BMW is having a banner year. Sales for July, and for the first half of 2016, set new records. While that isn’t surprising – automakers around the world are logging record sales – the interesting bit is that sales of BMW’s electrified models are exceeding expectations, especially in Europe.

In Western Europe in July, 4% of all BMW sales were electrified vehicles, and that percentage was far higher in the continent’s EV hotspots.

In the Netherlands, 43% of BMW 3 Series registrations are for the plug-in 330e version (probably thanks to all those buyers who don’t want to wait for a Tesla), and 26% of 2 Series Active Tourer registrations are for the 225xe. In Scandinavia, PHEV versions account for 45% of 3 Series sales and 55% of 2 Series Active Tourer sales.

“While we see growth across our range, the fact that the planned production for our electrified 7 Series, 3 Series and 2 Series Active Tourer models is already sold out this year demonstrates our strategy of rolling out electrification on all models is the right one,” said BMW Board Member Dr. Ian Robertson. “We will, of course, now respond to this high customer demand.”

July also saw the first deliveries of the new BMW i3 94A, which offers a larger battery and significantly increased range. BMW says sales of the i3 grew by 33.7% in July, while orders for the new BMW i3 exceed 7,000.

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Meanwhile, the company has added yet another PHEV to its lineup. The 740e xDrive iPerformance is now in production, and is scheduled to arrive at US dealerships in August. The new luxury sedan offers combined fuel economy of 64 MPGe and an electric range of 14 miles (EPA figures). Pricing starts at $89,100.

According to BMW, the “greenhouse potential” of the 740e is approximately 30% lower than that of the legacy gas-powered 740i over the full lifecycle of the car, including CO₂ emissions produced by everything from the extraction of raw materials through manufacturing, use and eventual recycling.

Source: BMW via Green Car Congress