BMW saw its highest-ever annual sales in China last year, amid a strong focus on electric vehicles and resilience in the face of global chip shortages and pandemic drawbacks. China saw a leap of 9 percent to 846,000 units in sales from BMW and Mini cars in 2021, Bloomberg reported. A major contributor to the record year was the hybrid and electric vehicles lineup, with around 48,000 units sold, representing a 70 percent hike from a year earlier. The rally in sales was also attributed to a rising demand for luxury cars. The Chinese market is to see BMW unveil seven new hybrid or electric car models in the ongoing year. In line with the German automaker, the whole Chinese automotive industry boomed in 2021, driven by higher sales of such vehicles. Market-wide automobile sales were up 4.5 percent, rising for the first time since 2018, as sales of hybrid or electric vehicles jumped 169 percent, Bloomberg noted, citing data by the China Passenger Car Association.