That’s according to a press release just put out by the BMW group, which as a whole had a successful 2007.

Sales of the MINI showed strong growth with the retail sales volume rising by 18.5% to 222,875 units (2006: 188,077 units), while BMW brand cars saw a relatively small (but still significant) 7.7%.

At the other end of the scale, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars achieved a four-figure annual sales volume for the first time ever, handing over 1,010 vehicles to customers during 2007.

On the eco angle, more than 450,000 BMW and MINI brand cars equipped with EfficientDynamics had been sold by the end of 2007 and by the end of the current year this figure is expected to rise to over 800,000 vehicles.