BMW says too soon to bring battery cells in-house - "we have secured our needs"

FILE PHOTO: A logo of BMW is seen outside a BMW car dealer, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BERLIN (Reuters) - BMW, which reported record brand sales in 2021 and is optimistic it has hit the top end of its 9.5-10.5% profit estimate, remains cautious of bringing battery cell production in-house too fast, its finance chief said on Thursday.

The carmaker, which buys battery cells from CATL, Samsung and Northvolt, among others, is building one pilot plant to produce its own cells but won't scale up until battery technology has developed further, Nicolas Peter said in an interview with Reuters.