BMW has said its 2008 target of 1.4m vehicles retailed globally will now be reached a year ahead of schedule.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“We want to pursue our profitable growth path further in the years ahead and intend to deliver a total of about 1.6m… vehicles to customers in the year 2010”, said BMW chairman Helmut Panke at the annual general meeting in Munich.
This would be almost a doubling of the group’s retail volume in the 10 years from 2000.
“With our ongoing product and market initiative, the BMW group will continue its successful course in the years to come, showing further positive developments in terms of revenues and earnings,” Panke said.
He reiterated the group’s confident expectations for the current business year. The company intends to reach a new record in retail volume as well as a new high in pre-tax profit of EUR4bn.
“Despite headwinds arising from currency effects and high raw material prices, 2006 is going to be the most successful year in our company’s history, also in operative terms”, added Panke.
In the first quarter of 2006, BMW’s profit before tax rose 57.7% to EURO1,296m. Excluding a one-off gain in connection with Rolls-Royce aero engines, profit before tax improved 12.0% to EUR921m.
Net profit soared 80.6% to EUR948m.
Adverse currency effects and high raw material prices had a negative influence on profit during the first three months, but were offset somewhat by business growth and further efficiency measures.
BMW’s AGM heard that currency effects and high raw material prices will continue to have an impact on business development in the current year, however to a lesser degree than in the previous year. This negative effect is partly attributable to the fact that less favourable currency hedge rates are in place than in the previous year; the effect will be felt mainly in the first half of 2006.
The group will counter this with continuous efficiency and productivity improvements.
The group expects to post a new high in profit before tax.
