Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed shareholders, I now open the 102nd annual general meeting of Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft. This year, we again broadcast the annual general meeting live over the Internet as a virtual meeting streamed from the BMW Welt in Munich. As chairman of the supervisory board, I assume the chair of the meeting as stipulated in the articles of association. On behalf of the supervisory board and the board of management, I welcome you most cordially. All members of the board of management attend this annual general meeting here at the BMW Welt in person. Moreover, all members of the supervisory board are also following this annual general meeting, either here in person or via video and audio
stream. Most of them have joined us here at the BMW Welt. Today's shareholder meeting is our 3rd virtual annual general meeting.
To protect the health of everyone involved and their additional contact persons, the board of management and the supervisory board have again opted for this virtual format. We are aware of the fact that some shareholders question this format. While preparing this annual general meeting, we therefore reflected on how we can expand the possibilities of shareholder participation in the context of this virtual shareholder meeting and at the same time ensure that the meeting runs in a timely and appropriate manner. I will explain these possibilities to participate in more detail later. You may wonder what kind of format an annual general meeting will have in the future. At present, draft legislation is being considered in accordance with the legislative procedure.
This legislation is to lay the foundation for holding virtual shareholder meetings under the German Stock Corporation Act. Which format BMW's annual general meeting will have in this coming year, we cannot yet say today. Depending on the general conditions prevailing at the time, the board of management and the supervisory board will carefully consider which format is the best choice, taking into account the interests of the shareholders and the company. To shareholders, I will now address some organizational aspects of today's meeting. Here at the BMW Welt, exclusively company-designated proxies will attend as representatives of the shareholders. They will exercise their voting rights following the instructions of shareholders who have granted them power of attorney. The minutes of this annual general meeting are being taken by Dr. Vossius, Notary Public.
This annual general meeting has been duly convened when it was published in the Federal Gazette on the 29th of March, 2022. All documents to which access must be given have been available on BMW AG's Internet page for retrieval. This annual general meeting is being transmitted live and in full on the Internet. In this context, the presentations given by our CEO and our CFO, as well as my supervisory board report, will be streamed for the interested public without any access restrictions. Registered shareholders can follow the annual general meeting in full via our online service. You can find the access data to log on to the online service in the registration confirmation.
Using the online service, registered shareholders can, even during the annual general meeting, cast postal votes or authorize the company designated proxies and give them instructions until voting begins here in the meeting room. Until that time, votes already submitted or instructions given can be revoked or changed. This, however, applies to holders of ordinary shares only. Preference shares of our company do not grant voting rights. Up to and including the ninth of May, this was the day before yesterday, you had the opportunity to submit questions which we are going to answer in the second part of the meeting. In case an answer does not fully answer your question, you can ask a related follow-up question.
In contrast to requesting the floor to make a contribution here at this place in the classical manner, you had the opportunity to submit statements in writing or as video messages. They are made available to the other shareholders via our online service. In addition, the video statements received will also be screened during today's shareholder meeting. To enable you to prepare for this annual general meeting, we again published a summary of the speeches of the Board of Management members and my report in advance on our internet page. On the online service, you also have the opportunity until the end of the annual general meeting to lodge objections to be recorded by the notary public in case you consider a resolution by the annual general meeting as void or against the law.
The prerequisite for doing so is that you exercise your voting right, and we ask you to understand that during the annual general meeting, motions submitted by shareholders regarding the resolutions passed during the annual general meeting will not be accepted. However, it was possible before the annual general meeting to submit motions to supplement the agenda, but we haven't received any such motions. In addition, it was possible to submit countermotions in the election proposals related to resolutions proposed by the management up until 14 days before the annual general meeting. Within this period, we received such countermotions from two shareholders and an election proposal from one shareholder. We published them on our internet page. In the context of today's meeting, these countermotions and the election proposal are deemed as having been submitted.
As in the past, video and audio recordings of our annual general meeting by third parties are not permitted. Please bear with us for not allowing it. Ladies and gentlemen, before we start going through the agenda, we, as is our tradition, commemorate those among our workforce and our pensioners who passed away. Moreover, in view of the horrifying events in Ukraine, we also wish to commemorate those who've become victims of this atrocious war. At this point, I ask everyone present to stand up for a moment of commiseration. The suffering of people in Ukraine is a cause of great concern to us. We wish to express our sympathy and our connectedness with the victims of the war and their relatives. We remember with gratitude all BMW colleagues who passed away. Ladies and gentlemen, you commemorated the dead and their relatives. I thank you for that.
Now, I would like to give you a brief overview of the course of the annual general meeting. First, I will present to you the report on the activities of the supervisory board during the last financial year. Afterwards, Mr. Zipse, our CEO, speaking on behalf of the board of management, will report on the previous financial year. He will present to you an outlook on plans the company has for the future. Afterwards, our CFO, Dr. Peter, will inform you about financial issues. In our speeches, we will also address the proposals which the board of management and the supervisory board will present to the annual general meeting today for resolution. Afterwards, we will screen video statements related to our annual general meeting and submitted by shareholders and proxies. Following that, we will answer questions and follow-up questions of shareholders.
Once questions have been answered, I will announce that voting will begin here in this meeting room, and this will be the last possible time to cast postal votes or give instructions to the company-designated proxies via the online service. This will be followed by voting on the proposed resolutions and the election proposals in the meeting room. Finally, after the votes submitted were counted, I will announce the results concerning the resolutions.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now go through the agenda of this annual general meeting, and we begin with item number 1 on the agenda. That's the presentation of the adopted company financial statements and the approved group financial statements, along with the consolidated management report for the company and the group as at the 31st of December 2021, as well as the report of the supervisory board for the fiscal year 2021. Now, these documents are available from our internet page. There, you will also find the explanatory report of the board of management on the statutory disclosures regarding takeovers, and the statement of corporate governance together with the corporate governance report for retrieval.
You will find the text version of the report of the Supervisory Board on our internet page in the BMW Group report, and therefore, permit me to restrict myself to picking out some important aspects. I begin with the changes to the composition of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management since the last annual general meeting. After the close of the annual general meeting 2021, Dr. Karl-Ludwig Kley, Professor Dr. Reinhard Hüttl, and Ms. Simone Menne, being shareholder representatives, have retired from the Supervisory Board. Mrs. Rachel Empey, Dr. Marc Bitzer, and Professor Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt have been elected to the Supervisory Board as shareholder representatives by the last year's annual general meeting, and they introduced themselves already at the last year's annual general meeting. Dr.
Kurt Bock, he's a member of the supervisory board since 2018 and chair of the audit committee since 2020, has been elected to the presiding committee, a successor for Dr. Kley, who had resigned, and has also been elected as a member of the Personnel and Nomination Committee. There have also been several changes among the employee representatives, most of which relate to resignations due to old age, and some signify a generational change. Now, on their own request, since last year, Mr. Horst Lischka, Mr. Willibald Löw, Mrs. Brigitte Rödig, Mrs. Verena zu Dohna, and Mr. Werner Zierer all prematurely retired from the supervisory board at their own request. For the respective remaining terms, the following were appointed as employee representatives on the supervisory board by court order: Mr. Johann Horn, he is a regional director of IG Metall Bavaria. Mr.
Jens Kühler, Chairman of the Works Council at the Leipzig plant. Mr. Bernhard Ebner, Chairman of the Works Council at the Landshut plant. Ms. Sibylle Wankel, first authorized representative of the IG Metall trade union Munich, and Mr. An-dre Mandl, Chairman of the Works Council at the Regensburg plant. Another employee representative will, at the end of this month, after a long and successful career at BMW, resign from the Supervisory Board and enter retirement at the end of this month. Dr. Thomas Wittig, in his last position, Head of the Financial Services business area, and before that of Group Reporting, represents the executive employees on our Supervisory Board. We thank all former and soon-to-resign members for their, in some cases, many years of invariably constructive and very trustful cooperation.
A good cooperation with employee representatives, which is based on mutual trust and attempts to seek balanced solutions, has been a long-established part of our BMW corporate culture. This is also demonstrated by the cooperation of the employee and shareholder representatives on the Supervisory Board of the BMW AG. In addition, this cooperation is also a manifestation of good corporate governance. Thus, I'm looking forward to continuing this tried-and-tested cooperation with the new members on the Supervisory Board. Now, also, in the composition of the Board of Management have we seen changes. Dr. Andreas Wendt, he was a Board member in charge of purchasing and the supplier network, entered retirement at the end of last year. We thank Dr. Wendt for his successful work for the BMW AG for many, many years towards the end of his career.
In particular, for his prudent and dedicated management while guiding the company through the semiconductor shortage crisis. As his successor, the Supervisory Board appointed, as of January 1, 2022, Dr. Jochen Post to the Board of Management. Dr. Post has been working for the BMW Group since 2002, and in his last assignment, was heading the business area product line middle class segment BMW. Before that, he was responsible for BMW Group's vehicle strategy at management level. Now, at present, preserving supply chains is a particular challenge. As an example, I mention the sufficient supply of semiconductors and wire harnesses, the latter being produced in Ukraine to a considerable extent. We wish Dr. Post and his colleagues on the Board of Management and his team, who show very intense commitment in this matter, all the best and continued success.
I will now move on to the key activities of the Supervisory Board in the last financial year. The Supervisory Board has fulfilled its tasks to the best of its abilities. It regularly and rigorously supervised business operations, advising the Board of Management on crucial issues of corporate management. We discussed the current situation of the company, including the issue of semiconductor supply, with the Board of Management in detail at every meeting. An important focus of the Supervisory Board work was at the corporate strategy, especially on the all-embracing orientation of the company towards sustainability. At our every meeting, we dealt with the transformation occurring in drive system technology and electrification of the vehicle fleet. In addition, we heard reports on key issues facing the different divisions.
These, in particular, include sales markets in Asia, the Neue Klasse architecture, which the BMW Group will launch in 2025 to enter the third phase of electromobility and the new cluster vehicle architecture intended for it. Possible uses of artificial intelligence in processes for production planning. Group Finance and the Financial Services business areas, as well as working practices and working environments at the BMW Group. In addition, the Board of Management informed us about important current issues, like for instance, the creation of a consortium for the industrial application of quantum computing and expansion of the IONITY network for premium charging points. The chief compliance officer directly reported to us on the status and further development of compliance in the company.
The Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board diligently dealt with issues in the context of antitrust proceedings of the European Commission regarding former working groups of several German automobile manufacturers. I take this opportunity to emphasize again that in these proceedings, charges of illegal manipulation of diesel emissions devices by the BMW Group have not been an issue. In this respect, the European Commission also made clear that these proceedings must be distinguished from investigations against some competitors which relate to the use of illegal defeat devices. After conclusion of the proceedings in July 2021, by settling on a fine of about EUR 373 million, the question whether or not former members of the Board of Management of personal responsibility was thoroughly considered and debated. The Supervisory Board consulted with an external lawyer who explained his written appraisal in detail during the meeting.
In this context, consideration was given to the fact that the European Commission, also in their own assessment, entered new legal territory with these proceedings. For an assessment from an antitrust perspective, the Supervisory Board consulted with an additional specialist. On this basis, the Supervisory Board, after in-depth debate and upon recommendation of the Audit Committee, decided against asserting any claims against former members of the Board of Management of BMW AG. Owing to my previous position on the Board of Management, I did not take part in this decision. An important range of topics of the work of the Supervisory Board have been strategic cooperations also in 2021. Here, one focus was in the future positioning of the BMW Group in the vital market of China. We dealt with the remuneration of Board of Management members at meetings of the Personnel Committee and the full Supervisory Board.
After in-depth preparation by the personnel committee, the supervisory board in December, in particular, adopted the targets for the components of the variable remuneration of the members of the board of management for the 2022 financial year. Regarding long-term board of management remuneration, 50% are again tied to the ambitious targets of the environmental criterion. In the context of the work of the supervisory board concerning the board of management remuneration for the last financial year, I will provide further information in my statement about remuneration report under agenda item 7. The supervisory board also exhaustively examined the long-term business plan, in which the board of management corroborated the central objective of continuous growth. After an in-depth review, the supervisory board approved the longer term business plan of the BMW Group.
The Supervisory Board also gave its approval to the corporate development plan for the 2022 financial year after detailed discussions with the Board of Management. In addition, the Board of Management presented to us diversity concepts for the company and described the current status of target achievement on different levels. In December, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board issued their declaration of compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code. We will observe the recommendations of the code again without exception. Together, we evaluated the efficiency of our work of the Supervisory Board and in the committees at the end of the year, and in doing so noted a high level of satisfaction among the Supervisory Board members. You can find a person-by-person overview in the Supervisory Board report listing the attendance of Supervisory Board members.
The attendance rate at supervisory board and committee meetings exceeded 99% in the last financial year. Our review of accounts as of the 31st of December 2021 is being explained in detail in the written version of the supervisory board report. PwC Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft was our auditor for the third time. They audited the company and group financial statements prepared by the board of management as of the 31st of December 2021, and the management report integrated into the BMW Group report for the 2021 financial year and issued an unqualified auditor certificate.
As proposed by the audit committee, the supervisory board agreed to the result of the audit after its own detailed examination, and on the 10th of March 2022 approved the company and group financial statements of BMW AG for the 2021 financial year, as prepared by the board of management. There were no objections to be raised. The financial statements have thus been adopted. The combined non-financial statement as of the 31st of December 2021 was also reviewed by the audit committee and the supervisory board, and has been approved after the auditor had explained the audit results. Audit committee and supervisory board also reviewed the proposal of the board of management on how to appropriate the net profit. The dividend will give shareholders a share in the success of the respective previous financial year.
Today, in accordance with our long-standing dividend policy, Board of Management and Supervisory Board proposed to the Annual General Meeting payment of a dividend of EUR 5.82 per preference share and EUR 5.80 per ordinary share. The Supervisory Board considers the amount of this dividend appropriate.
Ladies and gentlemen, the previous financial year was a particularly challenging one for the BMW Group. Semiconductor supply issues and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have made the business environment still more volatile and, of course, calling for ever greater flexibility from company and workforce alike. However, thanks to the prudent leadership of the Board of Management and, in particular, the tremendously hard work of our employees, 2021 was all the same a highly successful financial year for the BMW Group. Therefore, I'd like to use this opportunity to thank the members of the Supervisory Board and all employees, as well as the members of the Board of Management for their excellent achievements in the 2021 fiscal year. I express gratitude and appreciation. In the current financial year, we're facing new challenges as a result of the war in Ukraine and its global repercussions.
If you ask long-serving BMW employees, what is the special strength of our associates? They would, I presume, all be in agreement by saying it is the task force mode. We are therefore optimistic that our management team and our workforce will also meet these challenges. Now, I would like to speak about the other items on the agenda and the resolutions proposed by the Supervisory Board. Regarding agenda item 4, ratification of the acts of the Supervisory Board. I, as a chair of this meeting, determine that we will vote on the ratification of acts of the Supervisory Board for the previous financial year for each member separately. We understand that some investment consultants see reasons to do so after the conclusion of the EU antitrust proceedings, and we do not wish to disregard this opinion, but wish to address it.
Therefore, in our online service, we have issued a short-term possibility to submit separate postal votes concerning this agenda item. Aggregate instructions that have already been issued and aggregate votes already cast retain, of course, their validity. This will thus apply to the ratification of acts of each Supervisory Board member. If need be, you may also change your instructions already issued and postal votes already submitted on the online service. This is also possible if you've submitted your instructions on postal votes on paper form. On item number five of the agenda, the Supervisory Board, based on the recommendations of the Audit Committee, proposes that the PricewaterhouseCoopers auditor company be appointed company and group auditor for the 2022 financial year and auditor for the review of the interim group financial statements and interim group management reports.
The Audit Committee, furthermore, reviewed the quality of the audit. Due to the very good experience to date with PricewaterhouseCoopers, we recommend to continue said cooperation. On item 6, an election to the Supervisory Board is on the agenda. One representative of the shareholders is to be elected to the Supervisory Board. Now, with this Supervisory Board, the first term of Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger will end with the conclusion of today's annual general meeting. In the past 5 years, he has shaped the work of the Supervisory Board, demonstrating expertise and commitment. Therefore, I'm glad that he expressed his willingness to stand for election today once more. Based on the recommendation of the Nomination Committee, the Supervisory Board proposes to elect Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger as shareholder representative of the Supervisory Board for a further term of office.
That is, until the close of the annual general meeting that decides on the ratification of the acts of the 2025 financial year, which means about four years. I would now like to ask Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger to introduce himself briefly. Mr. Hiesinger, over to you. Thank you, Mr. Reithofer. Dear shareholders, I'm glad to introduce myself once more. My name is Heinrich Hiesinger. I was born in 1960, and I'm married. We've got 4 adult children. I studied at the Technical University here in Munich, electrical engineering, where I also wrote my PhD thesis. Thereafter, for 18 years, I was with Siemens AG in a number of different business divisions and functions, amongst others, 8 years abroad and also in Asia. At the end, I was also a member of the Board of Management.
We are responsible for the entire industrial sector, that is the entire automation as well as digital factory issues. In 2010, I changed to thyssenkrupp, where for eight years, roughly until 2018, I was chairman of the Board of Management. Now, what kind of contributions can I make to the Supervisory Board of BMW AG? Well, both companies, Siemens as well as thyssenkrupp, are globally active, which means I've got many years of experience in management functions of a company with a worldwide exposure. Above all, looking at the challenges of worldwide distributed functions like development, production, and sales. In my entire professional career, I myself was regularly in key markets such as United States and China. Therefore, I know many of the regional specific requirements. Siemens and thyssenkrupp are suppliers for the automotive industry.
This, together with my chairmanship at the Supervisory Board of Stadtwerke Friedrichshafen, give me a deep insight into the current, but above all, in the future challenges of the automotive industry over the entire value creation chain, from the supplier all the way through to the producer of vehicles. Thanks to my engineering degree, my professional expertise, but also at the moment, I'm constantly looking at state-of-the-art technologies. With Siemens that was, for example, automation and digitalization of production. At thyssenkrupp, it was with hoists and lifts. We also looked at solution with cloud solutions and machine learning and for maintenance and repair services. Furthermore, to always stay updated, I have invested in startups in the software area.
I don't have a function here, but I ensure that in the methods of software development, in cloud-based solutions, and in applications of artificial intelligence, I always stay up to date with the developments. When it comes to sustainability or ESG, I've always addressed these issues in depth. First and foremost, due to my professional work, but also on my own personal interest and my own conviction. This experience, likewise, is something that I can contribute to my committee work at BMW. As you will be able to have seen in the invitation, I'm also a member in the Supervisory Board of three further companies, including one chairmanship.
I can assure you that I have no further comparable assignments that will take on and have therefore also signed a self-declaration accordingly. Participation in the Supervisory Board is now conducted by me as a main profession, which means I have no further other functions in a management board or as an executive leader. Which means I've got adequate time for the preparation, the participation, and the post-briefing of the meetings. The fact that in the last four years, I have participated in 100% of all the meetings, I think should be a clear indication of said capacity. The collaboration in the committees of the BMW AG Supervisory Board committees was very active and very intensive over the last few years. I appreciate this company, the transparent, open, and cooperation that is also able to listen to criticism of the committees.
I am convinced that in the transformation in the automotive industry, I can provide valuable insights in these committees, and therefore, I would be delighted if you could cast your vote for me, and I could be reelected. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Hiesinger. Now, the Supervisory Board considers Dr. Hiesinger to be independent within the meaning of the German Corporate Governance Code. As an alternative candidate to be elected to the Supervisory Board, the shareholder Inyova Impact Investing GmbH has proposed Professor Susan Shaheen. You can find the CVs of both candidates on our internet page. Now, under item number 7 of our agenda today, we present you the approval, the remuneration report for fiscal year 2021.
Now, for the first time, the Board of Management and Supervisory Board have prepared it in accordance with the new regulations of the German Stock Corporation Act, which have been introduced to implement the second EU Shareholder Rights Directive. Among others, you will find that the full remuneration report can be retrieved from our internet page. There, you will also find a summary presentation. Therefore, I will only address the following essential points here. Regarding the Board of Management remuneration, the new remuneration system, which the previous annual general meeting approved with a large majority, was used for vesting year 2021 for the first time. Remuneration of Board of Management members comprises fixed components and two variable components, the bonus and the long-term share-based remuneration. For vesting year 2021, fixed base remuneration has been increased for the first time since 2018.
Already before the approval of the remuneration system by the previous annual general meeting, we made this transparent in the 2020 BMW Group report. Now, for the two variable remuneration components, the Supervisory Board defined challenging financial and non-financial targets before the beginning of 2021. These have been derived from KPIs, key financial parameters in the corporate business plan. Here, special focus was here on sustainability. A substantial part of the non-financial targets have been derived from the criteria environmental, social, and corporate governance. In particular, half of the targets of the long-term share-based remuneration depends on the achievement figures in the context of the environmental criterion. That is, in lowering CO2 fleet consumption in the EU and on global sales of electrified vehicles.
Both the individual targets as well as the individual target achievement are shown in the remuneration report in a transparent manner. Under the leadership of the Board of Management, the BMW Group achieved a very good corporate result in the previous financial year. This is also reflected in the high level of target achievement regarding the financial targets of the variable remuneration components. The proportion of the actual variable remuneration for vesting year 2021 tied to the sustainability targets is around 27% despite the strong financial result. This shows that the Board of Management remuneration is balanced in terms of its defined targets. We consider the arithmetic result and the composition of the Board of Management remuneration to be appropriate. We didn't consider it necessary to adjust results due to extraordinary circumstances.
For financial year 2021, the remuneration of members of the Supervisory Board shown in the remuneration report remained unchanged year on year and consists of fixed remuneration only. Individual remuneration also takes into account remuneration relevant additional functions as well as attendance of plenary meetings. The auditor, PwC, also reviewed the remuneration report in terms of content, going beyond the required formal minimum audit, and issued an unqualified auditor's certificate. Now, I would like to give the floor to Mr. Zipse. He is going to report on the previous financial year and, in addition, will also present us an outlook on the plans of the Board of Management.
Why are we, the BMW Group, doing all this? Where do we come from? What path should we take? What do we stand for? What drives us? What are we leaving behind? What truly moves people? Individual mobility goes far beyond moving the body.
It's also about touching the heart and stimulating the mind. We believe it's about connecting all three. We move body, heart, and mind. This is why we are passionate about creating inspiring, uplifting, and pleasurable experiences with the power to transform. Through our actions, we make a real difference to our collective future, demanding to be judged by what we do, not just what we say. This is how we move body, heart, and mind.
Ladies and gentlemen, the BMW Group is your company. Now, why should you continue investing in us? What is it that makes us strong and relevant? Why should we, and why will we be around also in a hundred years? Now, we concern ourselves with these questions like you do. You are our shareholders. I extend a warm welcome to you from the BMW Welt in Munich. Today is the third time that I answer to you and field questions from you. For me, this is an honor and has been a concern of mine. A company must know what it stands for, then it can stay on course, rely on its own capabilities, withstand headwinds, reinvent itself time and time again. The BMW Group exists because we move people, touch hearts, and inspire minds. This is our inner compass, our North Star.
It gives us orientation at any time, even during times of change. It describes which were our strong points in the past. What do we achieve at the present time? What are our strong points for the future? My message to you is your company has a future. This is our mission, and you consider this important, ladies and gentlemen, because you are accompanying us in the long term, and this should and must be worthwhile. Today, we propose to you a dividend, 5.80 EUR for each ordinary share, and 5.82 EUR for each preference share for our successful financial year 2021. The distribution rate is 30.7%, which is within the corridor we defined. Our dividend policy remains appropriate and reliable. Our future is important for more than 140,000 members of the BMW family.
They all are moving things every day. We make our customers mobile with innovations. More than 2.5 million people bought a BMW, a MINI, or a Rolls-Royce last year. They expect far more than just moving from A to B. They experience their mobility quite individually with a lot of joy. Our business model is based precisely on this sentiment. Joy makes people happy. It is the core of the BMW brand, and for us, the constant during transformation. Our future is important for the suppliers, too. For us, they are partners. For industrial value creation is highly complex nowadays. Interconnections are more intensive than ever before. When supply chains get stuck, then a stable, trusting relationship with the suppliers will prove itself, like now. Future remains the leading currency of the economy. Your company is a success story, and we continue writing it.
Every management generation has a task to perform entirely in line with Herbert Quandt. This courageous entrepreneur believed in BMW that next generation will continue his legacy. It encourages us, grants entrepreneurial freedom, and we turn this trust into future. Three fields of action are crucial. Our strong foundation, our successful transformation, and three, our Neue Klasse for a new era. These are my topics today. You know your company claims, announcements, pipe dreams. This is not the BMW way. We are for action. We deliver what we promise. This makes us credible, and you can always count on it. Two examples. In 2021, we again exceeded the CO2 targets in the EU and undercut it by about 10 grams per kilometer. Two, our path to net zero has clear milestones until 2030. The approach underlying them is scientifically confirmed and transparent.
To make it happen, we joined the business ambition for 1.5 degrees of the Science Based Targets initiative as the first German car maker. We include the entire value chain. Ladies and gentlemen, however massive, however unexpected the requirements may turn out to be, we will meet them. Afterwards, we are even stronger than before. In the middle of the economic and financial crisis, we developed the BMW i3. No other electric model has been in the market longer. Upheavals, we transform them into new beginnings, and this brings me to the first point. Our future has a strong foundation. There's a shortage of semiconductor chips across the industry, a genuine, a real stress test for us, too. We cannot make as many cars as we are selling. Have customers wait? That's painful.
Thousands of chips are put into a modern car, and we increasingly conclude direct supply contracts. The shortage of semiconductors will challenge us for quite a while, at least until the second half of the year, also in 2023. On the other hand, we realize good prices for new cars and also pre-owned cars. Our sales costs are decreasing in all markets. This reflected in our business figures 2021. Used opportunities achieved best results. Group earnings before tax of more than EUR 16 billion. They include about EUR 1 billion from provisions for the antitrust proceedings of the European Commission. They've been closed. We were able to release the provision on a pro rata basis. The EBIT margin in the automotive segment, 10.3%. This, by the way, is the upper range of our target corridor.
The motorcycles and financial services segments have grown too. The BMW brand is again leading the global premium segment. Volume is not everything, but without coveted products, everything else is nothing. The share in the world market is also considered hard currency in our industry. We increased it, despite the coronavirus pandemic, to 3.4%, and we achieved all this together as a global team, BMW Group. I sincerely say, and on behalf of the Board of Management, I say thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, your company has a robust capital structure. Your company is highly profitable. This foundation carries us forward even more so in difficult times. In the first quarter, again, unforeseeable events occurred for the third time, by the way, in three years. What happens in Ukraine renders us speechless, but not inactive.
Last year, I told you, attitude manifests itself in behavior, and this is true more than ever. We immediately made EUR 1 million available to UNICEF for children affected. We stopped our contract production in Russia, export of cars as well. At present, we help children who fled Ukraine with their mothers or alone, and to do so, we support SOS Children's Villages in Poland, among others. People from almost all nations are working in our company. At our parent plant in Munich, we count more than 70 nationalities, and this diversity makes us strong. We are a living example of peaceful coexistence, day in, day out, at all 31 production and assembly plants in 15 countries. We support free world trade. It brings people together, leads to progress, to prosperity in all regions. Your global company has demonstrated this for a long time.
Now, what are we doing against supply bottlenecks of components from Ukraine? On the one hand, we compensate breakdowns using alternative sites. We support suppliers building up additional manufacturing structures, and in doing so, we secure the supply of critical components. On the other hand, we continue to procure wire harnesses from Ukraine. In this way, we give the supplier on the ground a perspective. Some of our plants in Europe had to interrupt production briefly or even limit it. This is also true for our sites in China. The reasons there are administrative requirements to contain COVID-19. Companies like to use the term flexibility. Well, it is a trademark, a hallmark of the BMW production. We rechanneled volumes at short notice, and we adapted our production flexibility. This distinguishes us from the competition. You know, we have ambitious plans also for this year.
That is, we want to generate sales at the high level of the previous year. Our order books are full to bursting. Markets enthusiastically order our all-electric novel models, the BMW i4 and the iX. Also, the MINI SE and the iX3. The BMW X family is more popular than ever. To date, we sold nearly 10 billion X vehicles. Almost half of our deliveries in 2021 were X models. In April, Pieter Nota and I visited the USA. In Austin, Texas, we presented more than 1,000 dealers from Northern, Middle, and Southern America our current and future cars. A highly emotional event, setting off to new horizons and nothing but. Everyone felt it. The United States are our second home.
In 2021 too, BMW was the largest exporter of cars from the United States, the 8th year in a row, measured in terms of value. You see, our marketing strategies is aimed at a balanced approach in the three major regions, world regions, America, Europe, and Asia. To understand each region in a decided manner, to treat it in a custom adequate manner and produce locally, to research there and procure there, this is what we understand localization to mean. It is in principle important for our future market success. In addition, it is a response to current geopolitical developments. Let me use China as an example to describe what I mean. In Shenyang, we are going to open a new plant at our site in Tiexi.
We are going to build a new BMW 3 Series sedan in its extended wheelbase version, all electric and especially for China. The plant in Dadong has been expanded substantially, and this is where the X5 with an extended wheelbase is going to be produced. It's been, you know, tailor-made exclusively for our Chinese customers. If the market situation in some regions is difficult, then, of course, we are going to have the other markets supporting us. You know, the situation in the world remains tense. Everyone assumes so, politics, institutes, and we, too. There are some completely new challenges, and they follow each other in ever shorter intervals. We know some of them already. Managing pandemics, military altercations with economic repercussions, fragile supply chains, growing protectionisms, short resources, expensive raw materials, insecure energy supply.
What is new is these challenges overlap each other, and they happen at the same time, but at different levels of intensity and constellation. This multiple burden becomes the new normal, the normality for entrepreneurial actions. Despite the insecurities, we have given a forecast for the year 2022. To be highly profitable remains our target and our duty, vis-à-vis you, as well as all stakeholders who make a contribution to our success. Without the events in the Ukraine, we have planned an EBIT margin in the automotive segment of 8%-10%. This remains our strategic target corridor. Now, for 2022, we are going to aim at 7%-9% only.
Our earnings before tax is to be clearly above that of the prior year, and this surely has to do with our joint venture, BMW Brilliance Automotive. We extended the contract up until 2040. Since February, the BMW Group holds 75% of the BBA shares, and this means BBA has been fully consolidated in our group financial statements. In strategic terms, a significant step forward. Some 25,000 employees of BBA are now officially members of the team BMW Group. Your company is growing into or onto a new level in a new dimension. Our financials for the first quarter show this already. For instance, sales has been rising by 16.3% year-on-year.
In the context of the BBA purchase, shares were revalued at market value, and this means there is an appreciation of about EUR 7.7 billion, and this is an effect which is reflected in the group earnings of the first quarter. This year, too, we are going to prove BMW can handle crises, BMW can go through transformations, and above all, we are strong because we transform ourselves. This brings me to the second point, our successful transformation. We are convinced we have the right strategy, we have the right products and technologies in the marketplace at the right time, and our transformation has an effect and carries us forward. To bring this about, we need operative excellence, we need courage in our own technology-based path.
With these features and characteristics, we are going to turn this transformation into a competitive edge for us. In this process, we can really fully utilize and harness our BMW typical capabilities. Technological diversity. You know, the BMW path is not mainstream, but it is effective. We lower CO2 emissions fast and effectively. Each and every drive system makes a contribution. Europe is just determining the route to the Green Deal. Before we switch off individual technologies, I believe we should make sure that the new ones are really safe. We continue to develop all technologies, and this is a benefit for climate protection as well as customers and substantially so, because now and in the next decades. You see, the markets are wired differently and will be in the future.
The charge infrastructure is developed differently and customers have different needs and requirements regionally. Our latest example, how we implement technology openness. It is the new BMW Seven. One model, four drive systems, unique in the luxury segment, and we are going to launch with it the latest, newest generation of our highly efficient ICEs. It is designed to comply with the Euro Seven standard, and this means we are well prepared for the regulatory requirement when it comes to our conventional drive systems, and this until 2030. I add to that, the substantial financial expenditures are far behind us. The Seven is far ahead of its time. Just imagine, you look at a painting or a piece of art for the first time.
You may love art or may not, but intuitively you feel that this is something special like the new Seven, and this is why we call it our masterpiece. It invites you to drive but also be driven. Our most demanding customers are supposed to feel at home in it, like in a private lounge. For me, this is a leap into the future. You know, I really love the grandiose screen in the rear. 31-inch, the BMW Theatre Screen. It will change your Seven in a cinema auditorium. The strongest, most powerful Seven is the all-electric model. This is tech magic, this is exactly what our customers expect. In technological terms, no vehicle can offer more. In November, the i7 will be launched in the marketplace. It's the first Seven Series variant. The electro sound has been developed together with Hans Zimmer.
Not only fans of film music know that he's just been awarded his second Oscar. Genuine diversity of drive systems will also be possible when looking at the BMW X1. At the end of the year, the all-electric variant will be launched in the marketplace. The iX1 will bring momentum to this high-volume premium compact class. In 2023, we are going to launch the next core product of BMW, that is the Five. All this is part of our roadmap, e-mobility. It's ambitious, it's consistent, and it runs precisely along the line of rising demand. This means your company will remain a leading manufacturer in the world of electric cars. We will make sure that this will be like this. There are eight all-electric models on the roads this year.
Add to that, the pre-series vehicles, then we produce 15 BEVs already. This, you know, is the abbreviation for battery electric vehicles. In 2022, all-electric vehicles are to account for at least 10% of our deliveries. In the first quarter, we have doubled the number of our BEVs sold, and this in comparison with the previous year. By the end of 2025, we are going to break another sound barrier. 2 million in total of our BEVs are to be on the roads. In 2030, we are going to make sure that half of our sales worldwide is all electric. We do everything to reach this target much earlier because, you know, we challenge ourselves time and again. Our brands, MINI and Rolls-Royce, in the early 2030s will be all electric.
In a few months' time, we are going to give you an outlook of the completely new MINI family. At BMW Motorrad, all forthcoming urban models are all electric. Last year, we showed you a concept vehicle here, a concept bike that is. Today, I brought the volume model. You know, I'm riding bikes myself, and I believe the BMW CE 04 is a real eye-catcher. Perfect for the city, and we harness the full potential of our flexible BMW architectures, a strong point which your company has. This means we can grow in all segments across the entire portfolio. Now add to that the new hydrogen electric drive system. It will complement e-mobility in a meaningful way in the upper market segment and the fastest in countries like Japan and Korea, but also in California. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen has been tested under extreme conditions.
Starting in autumn, we are going to produce a small series. The path to net zero does not take place on the road alone. It also requires sustainable supply chains. I can say that the importance of the upstream chain will rise with each electric car sold. This is good for the climate balance. You know, we use hundreds of our partners and they use renewable energy sources. This is something which we agreed upon in the respective contracts. This means until 2030, we are going to save 20 million tons of CO2 compared to 2019. This in the supply chain. As I said, we are going to be measured against the results. Internally, we also have a look at and take into account upstream value creation.
Our divisions, purchasing, development, and production from now on work in technology clusters. This means they strengthen the responsibility of the divisions, purchasing and supply network. At the same time, we make sure that we have early access to the latest technology offerings of our partners. We develop our organization dynamically. You know, last year at the annual conference, a journalist asked me, "Mr. Zipse, why do you frequently use terms from tech world? Is that necessary?" Well, I answered, "Well, because they describe our everyday workings." You know, BMW is digital through and through. In addition, the real and the virtual worlds are merging more and more. Metaverse is what the tech world calls this. This, of course, refers to our products because, you know, customers expect a digital driving experience.
In all derivatives, the BMW iDrive and our Operating System 8 are being rolled out. Remote software updates over the air is included. We have under control the digital car tech stack across all domains, off-board and on-board, and also the entire set of technologies for the development of all digital features. More than 10,000 experts are working in our IT and software development, and they work together on a global scale. This, of course, also affects our production. We map and show our processes in a virtual form. Each plant has got a digital twin, and this means we revolutionize, in this way, plant planning. Now, short and snappy, cool digitalized vehicles come from cool digitalized plants. This is just one aspect of our BMW iFACTORY. It is our master plan for the production of the future.
In each plant, we implement a new dimension of lean, green, and digital. Last but not least, this affects our sales. Here, we digitalize the customer interface. By 2025, we are going to handle a quarter of all sales online. We use digital as well as physical possibilities. Our dealer network remains highly relevant in order to make sure that the customers have a premium experience. I believe that this is a potential advantage which we should extend or build on. Complex transformation will not run by anyone alone. Therefore, our partnerships are long-term partnerships, and at the same time, we remain nimble, agile, in a moving environment. With Qualcomm Technologies and Arriver software, well, together with them, we developed the next generation of driver assistance systems and automated driving.
Level 2, Level 2 plus, and Level 3 functions. We are cooperating with the best tech players. Google and Apple are among them, like highly specialized startups. Cooperation and competition, this is our philosophy. In a digital environment, this is completely normal. You know, the French carmaker, Stellantis, communicated they want to acquire the car sharing operator Share Now. Now, the respective antitrust authorities have to agree to this transaction. This means we are realigning here now. Our joint venture with the Mercedes-Benz Mobility AG focuses in future on two fields of business, FREE NOW and CHARGE NOW. This means digital multi-mobility as well as digital services around everything in the connection of charging. Here we believe there is potential for further growth. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the future needs binding targets and dominant milestones. This today is my third point. Our Neue Klasse for a new era.
Definitely, it is the largest future project of your company. Digital, electric, circular. An enormous technology leap for products, technologies, as well as the working models. This year we are going to award the majority of the contracts for the first vehicles. In doing so, we take into account the CO2 emissions and the share or the proportion, rather, of secondary material used. They are criteria when selecting suppliers integrated in the purchasing process, not as an add-on. The Neue Klasse is fully designed for e-mobility, and our latest and newest drive generation, Gen Six, is also taking this into account. More performance, new cell chemistry, new cell formats. On the first of June, we're going to lay the foundation for the Debrecen plant, and 26 months later, already, we're going to start producing the pre-series of the Neue Klasse based on our new vehicle architecture.
This means we combine things into a unique step in the production processes. You see, our plant in Hungary is to do away with fossil energy resources. The first car plant worldwide. This means we are going to produce things without the much-discussed natural gas. That is a bombshell because it implies we cannot only run or supply energy to this plant in terms of CO2 balances or neutrality, but without any CO2 at all. Now, you may say, "Where do we get the power from?" Well, I can say it is generated directly on the plant premises. For the rest, we're going to use 100% renewable energy resources, and the total requirement comes from regional sources.
As you can see, we make an active contribution to the energy transformation, and this applies to other sites and locations worldwide. What's best for the respective plant? What are the local options? This is what we are thinking, and this is how we lower our climate footprint, and we do so in the best possible way in the respective region. Ecological and economical actions go hand in hand because our concept provides for stable prices as well as secure supplies. It is clear the Neue Klasse will be profitable on a level of most advanced ICEs. You know, on the board of management, we had to look at two concept vehicles, and you will be fascinated too, I promise you. The Neue Klasse is exactly the leap forward which we plan to do. Ladies and gentlemen, prices for industrial and precious metals are rapidly rising.
Nickel, aluminum, palladium, copper. Reusing raw materials use fewer primary materials. This will take us out of this spiral. Today, approximately 90% of the materials used are reusable, so our target is all the more ambitious. We would like to clearly increase the proportion of secondary material which we use in our vehicles from currently 30% to at least 50%. Now, this is a big step forward. It means your company will be increasingly independent of raw materials in short supply. Our circularity will be the new maxim for action from an ecological view, as well as economic and geopolitical perspectives. As a company, we are going to discuss intensively. We want to reduce the dependence on fossil energy resources and at the same time, we do not, you know, slide into new dependencies. Just think of the raw materials in batteries.
You know, this is another argument to be in a position with a wide basis in terms of technology, because diversity will make you resilient, and circular actions is not music of the future. When looking at the MINI Countryman, we can say that the light alloy cast wheels consist of secondary materials for 70%. Our BMW i Vision Circular, you know, really made an impression at the IAA Mobility. It is an extraordinary vision vehicle, 100% made of secondary material and regenerative raw materials. 100% recyclable. This means we move body, heart, and mind. We move forward in the German car industry. Your company has presented the second integrated BMW Group report. Integrated reporting requires everyone to take part in every decision.
You know, what is its impact across the board, not only in economic but also eco-ecological terms, but also in the short, middle, and long run? A complex challenge and requirement. Dear shareholders, who's got a future is optimistic, and he who is optimistic and grows will apply, will employ new members of staff. Up to 5% is the figure we want to do, and this is not a gut feeling because our workforce is standing behind the BMW Group. We are going to see, and we do see transformation as a chance. This year is the next consistent step on our BMW way in the future. You know, there are three anniversaries which your company is going to celebrate this year. 100 years BMW Plant Munich, 50 years BMW four-cylinder building, and 50 years BMW M. They all show. Together we are going to make a difference.
We generate value, and we create added value. Please stay at our side, remain at our side. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Mr. Zipse, for your clear report and the outlook that you've given us. I would now like to ask our CFO, Dr. Peter, to take the floor and present to you topics from the finance division and to explain agenda items 8 and 9. Dr. Peter, the floor is yours.
Dear shareholders, at the 2019 annual general meeting, the board of management was authorized to issue new non-voting preferred shares with the approval of the supervisory board. Now, the new shares may only be issued against cash contributions. The authorized capital is exclusively intended for the issue of employee shares. On the basis of this purpose, shareholders subscription rights have already been excluded in the resolution of the annual general meeting. Since the last annual general meeting, we have made use of the authorization once, namely for the employee share program 2021.
Around 29,000 employees participated in this program, and a total of 1,715,000 new preferred shares were issued. This represents an increase in capital stock of merely 0.26%. The issue price of the new shares was set at EUR 60.78 per share. That represents a discount of EUR 13.50 per share compared to the average closing price of BMW preferred stock in Xetra trading during the period from October 28 to November 3, 2021. However, the new shares are not entitled to dividends until the fiscal year 2022, and they are subject to a lock-up period until the end of 2024. The exclusion of subscription rights already resolved by the annual general meeting is necessary to enable the shares to be transferred to the employees.
The dilutive effect is extremely low. The remaining authorized capital 2019 now amounts to around EUR 1.7 million. For further information on the utilization of the authorized capital, you can also refer to the BMW Group report. Employee shares have been a proven instrument at BMW AG since 1989 to enable our employees to participate in the success of the company. We are convinced that the moderate use of the authorized capital since the last annual general meeting is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. Dear shareholders, this brings me to 2 items on today's agenda. Under item number 8, we propose an authorization to acquire treasury shares. Thanks to its successful business development, BMW AG has a strong balance sheet and the potential to generate a sustainably high free cash flow.
The board of management would therefore like to be granted the option of returning available capital to shareholders via share buybacks in order to improve the capital structure. In accordance with statutory requirements, the authorization is to be valid for five years and for a maximum amount of 10% of the capital stock. The authorization stipulates that the shares can only be purchased on the stock exchange, and in each case, the purchase price must be within a range of no more than 10% above or below the share price determined on that day in the opening auction in Xetra trading. The shares, thus purchased, may in particular be canceled and withdrawn. In addition, they may also be used for employee share programs or for the acquisition of companies. In these cases, it is necessary to exclude any subscription rights of shareholders.
I would therefore like to refer you to the written report of the board of management on this subject, and you will find that report in the notice convening the annual general meeting and on our website. Finally, I'd like to explain to you item number nine of the agenda in more detail. Under this agenda item, we are asking you to approve amendment agreements to existing profit and loss transfer agreements that BMW AG has concluded with six of its subsidiaries. You can see these six subsidiaries superimposed here. Now, for tax reasons, it has been required for a number of years now that profit transfer agreements contain so-called dynamic references. These are contractual clauses that declare certain legal norms to be applicable in the currently valid version and incorporate them into the contract.
This has the advantage that the contract does not have to be adapted even if the law changes after contract conclusion. Now all profit and loss transfer agreements within the BMW Group contain such dynamic references. In addition, however, the relevant sections from the law were sometimes quoted verbatim for illustration purposes, and this was in line with standard contractual practice. Now a provision in the German Stock Corporation Act has been amended. As a result, the citations in the contracts referring to this provision have become incomplete, and we would like to rectify this by removing all literal citations of the law from the contracts as a means of precaution. This will make the contracts clearer overall. In the event of future changes to the relevant regulations, it will then no longer be necessary to adjust said contracts.
We're taking the opportunity to update the contracts and bring them into line with standard group-wide clauses. We're also talking and taking this opportunity to make clarifications and other editorial adjustments. In doing so, I'd like to emphasize that the amendments to the contracts do not affect the main rights and obligations of the contracting parties. These will continue to apply unchanged. Any further information on the amendment agreements can also be found on our website. Thank you for your attention. Well, thank you, Dr. Peter. That brings us to the end of the public broadcast of our Annual General Meeting. For our registered shareholders, we continue to stream this Annual General Meeting in full on our online services. If you haven't done so yet, you should now register on the online service, and you can find the required access data on the confirmation of your registration.
With that, I say goodbye to all those who have followed our public broadcast, and thank you for your interest.