BMW is looking to expand its global manufacturing footprint to into fast-growing markets and is considering production in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, South Korea and Turkey.
Board chairman Norbert Reithofer told the group AGM on Thursday that such expansion is part of BMW’s “ambitious plans” for this year and beyond.
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The company’s goal of setting a new profit record in the current financial year remains unchanged. It is also targeting an all-time sales high. Reithofer added: “We aim to deliver more vehicles than ever before – well over 1.5m vehicles. The company’s EBIT margin target of more than 8% for the automotive segment also remains in place.”
The BMW Group will continue with the rigorous implementation of its successful Strategy Number ONE and thus lead the way for the premium segment in the future:
“We will expand our leading premium position in the automobile industry. We have the right DNA and the right values to be successful in the future,” added Reithofer.
The company said it would “stay focused on its innovative strength, concentrating exclusively on the premium segment in the future and offering extensive services for individual mobility”.
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By GlobalDataReithofer warned that it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict developments in the automotive market and the overall global economy.
“Volatility is not a crisis phenomenon. It is our constant companion,” he added.
Reithofer said the issue of future mobility is being energetically pursued. The company will be launching its innovative BMW i3, the first pure electric vehicle for major cities, on the market in 2013. This will be followed by the i8, a fuel-efficient sports car. Both vehicles will have a passenger compartment made of carbon – a first for the automobile industry.
The group will also be making its future combustion engines even more economical through its fuel-saving EfficientDynamics technology; it currently sells around 50 vehicles with CO2 emissions of 140 g/km or less.
The group again saw strong unit sales growth in April: 137,183 vehicles were delivered to customers, up 18% on the same month last year and for the year to the end of April, it achieved a new high of 519,944 vehicles, an increase of 20.4%.
Automotive segment sales rose by 23.8% to EUR5.4bn (US$7.7bn) from EUR4.3bn (US$6.1bn) in 2010.
