MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - BMW reduced the CO2 emissions of its cars sold in Europe by nine percent last year. The drop from 116 to 105 grams of CO2 per kilometer puts BMW well below the EU's fleet limit of 127 grams, the carmaker announced in Munich on Wednesday.

Gasoline and diesel cars have become more efficient, it said, and the group sold just over 215,000 electric cars worldwide last year - twice as many as the previous year, nine percent of total sales. In the EU, Norway and Iceland, 95,000 BMW and Mini electric cars were registered.

The EU calculates the CO2 emissions of an e-car at zero grams, although a good third of the electricity in the EU is generated with gas, coal and oil. This year, BMW wants to increase the share of battery cars to 15 percent, and by 2030, half of new cars sold should be fully electric./rol/DP/mis