When it comes to year-end videos, they typically recap memorable news stories, celebrity deaths and other major events of the past 12 months. BMW thinks that the end of the year is a perfect time to show its 2012 highlight reel, thankfully without any overly maudlin tributes.

Daryl Jackson, the never-before-seen voice of BMW, narrates a series of three videos that recap the Bavarian automaker’s year. The first covers new product launches, of which there were many. While a new 7 Series flagship is newsworthy, nothing is more significant than the launch of an all-new 3 Series, the brand’s mainstay product.

BMW gambled on a four-door coupe in 2012, launching the 6 Series Gran Coupe and the M6 Gran Coupe to take on the likes of the Audi A7 / S7 and the Mercedes-Benz CLS Class and CLS63 AMG. A new M6, in Coupe and Convertible form, also joined the family.

Sadly, there are some interesting new family members that we’ll never get to meet on this side of the Atlantic, including the range of BMW M Performance diesels and the M135i hatchback. Sure, we’ll get a sedan version on these shores, but BMW still subscribes to the myth that Americans don’t want hatchbacks.

On the design and concept front, BMW partnered with Zagato to show both a Z4-based coupe and roadster in 2012, and other introductions included the Concept 4 Series Coupe (destined to replace the previous 3 Series Coupe) and the plug-in hybrid Concept Active Tourer.

BMW went through a few styling evolutions of its i Series electric and extended-range electric vehicles, and we expect that 2013 will witness the debut of the battery-powered i3 in both four-door and two-door variants. We’ll likely see further styling evolutions of the plug-in hybrid i8 sports car, too.

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of BMW’s M division, and the brand celebrated by returning to DTM competition. In its inaugural season, BMW took the manufacturer’s title, BMW driver Bruno Spengler took the driver’s championship and BMW Team Schnitzer took team honors.

As for 2013, no one outside of Munich knows for sure what the brand is planning for the coming year.  This much is clear, however: with Audi prepared to spend $17 billion on growth over the next four years, BMW won’t be resting on its past accomplishments.