MUNICH, March 21 (Reuters) - BMW aims to achieve record sales volume, revenues and earnings this year by ramping up production of highly profitable sports utility vehicles to help fund investments to overhaul its production system for fully electric cars.
"The fully electric drivetrain will be integrated into our core brands," Chief Executive Harald Krueger told a news conference on Tuesday.
BMW's electric cars have until now been built on a separate, low-volume production line.
The group is targeting a slight rise in sales volume, revenues and group pretax profit this year, with a return on sales of 8 to 10 percent in the automotive segment, Krueger said.
Earlier this month, BMW reported preliminary 2016 financial results, with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) down 2.2 percent at 9.39 billion euros ($9.9 billion) even as revenues rose to a record 94.16 billion euros. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Maria Sheahan)