BMW has been so desperate to get people behind the wheel of its luxury cars that its finance company gave loans to people with zero or even negative disposable incomes and accepted false loan documents while paying big bonuses to its most reckless salesmen.

A scathing review of BMW Australia Finance found the company had loaned $27,000 to a single mother of 10 children even though she was in casual employment and had negative disposable income. It gave $23,300 to a refugee aged 21 who had been employed for just one month and whose income was overstated. And it loaned nearly $50,000 to a 76-year-old man based on earning projections rather than real income. The loan was almost twice the value of the car.

"BMW [Australia Finance] has not demonstrated a satisfactory level of organisational competency necessary to engage in credit activities efficiently, honestly and fairly," according to the review, produced by consultant Ernst & Young and obtained by Fairfax Media.

A "strong sales culture" was to blame, one in which people with "known compliance failings" were paid "unprecedented bonuses," while risk and compliance teams were undermanned, under-trained and not taken seriously.