Sales of the Mini have slowed down 13.8 percent compared with last year, ahead of a model changeover to a new generation of the compact city car which is due to go on sale in mid March.

Sales of the X3 compact offroader and the 5-series helped BMW brand sales rise 8.6 percent, the company said.

In the Americas, BMW and Mini sales slumped 1.3 percent in February. In Europe, sales fell 1.5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, the company said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Christoph Steitz)