The German car maker BMW has said it expects to sell more than a million cars this year.

The prediction came as the car maker said it sold 260,462 BMWs and new Minis during the first three months of the year, up 17.4% on last year.

Sales of the car maker's BMW brand rose 5% to 232,771 cars during the period.

The rest of the increase was made up by the sale of 27,691 new Minis.

Sales were getting gradually stronger during the three-month period, peaking at 108,292 cars sold in March, a 17.2% rise.

Sales growth in Germany was weak when compared with that seen in other markets.

German sales rose just 7.8%, well below the western Eurpoean sales rise of 18.1% and the US sales rise of 16.3%.