Nio's deliveries of 91,429 vehicles in 2021 are about 90 percent higher than BMW's NEV sales in China.

(Image credit: BMW)

BMW sold more than 48,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China in 2021, up 69.6 percent from a year earlier, the German luxury carmaker said Wednesday.

The company's battery electric vehicle (BEV) BMW iX3 sold more than 21,000 units in 2021, the model's first full year of sales in China, it said.

In 2021, BMW's global sales of BEVs reached about 103,900 units, up 133.2 percent year-on-year.

Since 2014, BMW has delivered a total of nearly 140,000 NEVs in China, it said.

For the full year 2021, BMW delivered a total of 846,237 BMW and MINI-branded vehicles in China, up 8.9 percent year-on-year, the company said.

For comparison, China's local premium EV brand Nio delivered 91,429 vehicles in 2021, about 90 percent more than BMW's NEV sales in China.

BMW is ramping up its efforts in China's NEV market.

On December 16, BMW announced an upgrade of its China strategy to align with China's development goals, uphold the "China First" principle, and prioritize the needs of the Chinese market in new product development.

In 2022, BMW will present five all-electric models to Chinese customers, including the BMW iX, BMW i4, and the all-electric BMW 3 Series produced in Shenyang. By the end of 2023, the BMW Group will offer around 13 all-electric products in the Chinese market, it said.

After letting the iX xDrive 50 go on sale in China at the Guangzhou Auto Show at the end of November last year, BMW let two other models in the iX range - the iX M60 and the iX xDrive 40 - go on sale in China earlier this month.

The BMW iX M60 has a suggested retail price of RMB 996,900 ($156,500) and delivery is scheduled for mid-year. The iX xDrive 40 has a suggested retail price of RMB 746,900 and delivery is scheduled for January of this year.

BMW made the iX xDrive 50 available in China at the Guangzhou Auto Show on November 19 with a suggested retail price of RMB 846,900.

With this, the entire BMW iX lineup is available in China at roughly double the price of Nio's SUV models.

NIO's average sales price reaches RMB 443,500 in Dec, higher than BMW and Audi's in China