BMW expects the launch of its fully redesigned 3 series will lead to an increase in deliveries of the best-selling model in 2005, chief executive Helmut Panke told Reuters.
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“We will end the year 2005 with more 3 series sold than in the previous year,” Panke told the news agency during the international press launch of the new sedan in Valencia.
He reportedly said the group aimed to sell roughly two million 3-series sedans over the period of the new generation’s life cycle, compared to 1.9 million for the older 3-series sedan.
Overall, BMW sold about 3 million of the previous, fourth-generation 3-series cars, including the wagon, coupe and convertible versions, Reuters added.
Olivier Pouteau of Oddo Securities told the news agency Panke’s guidance for 2005 sales of the 3 series was surprising considering that his finance chief, Stefan Krause, had told analysts earlier this month the group had aimed for stable sales.
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By GlobalData“This is quite positive, considering that you won’t have the additional sales any more from the 3-series compact,” he reportedly said, referring to a derivative that will no longer be sold due to an overlap with the brand’s new 1 series launched in September.
In 2004, the group sold 39,000 units of the 3-series compact, production of which ceased at the end of last year, the report noted.
BMW told Reuters it still expected total vehicle sales will grow at a high-single-digit percentage rate in 2005 and said it would compensate as best it can for negative effects of higher raw material prices and a stronger euro.
The company reportedly said increased productivity, improvements in logistics as well as lowered fixed costs and purchasing expenses could contribute to bigger savings this year.
“BMW said earlier they expect a charge from raw materials of between €150 million and €200 million in 2005 versus €50 million in the previous year,” Pouteau told Reuters, “which is a little bit higher than I expected”.
However, BMW would not comment immediately on raw material effects this year, the report added.
Together with his forecast of a 700-million-euro impact on earnings stemming from negative currency effects, Pouteau estimates that the two effects will cause net profit to decline by about 10% in the current year, according to Reuters.
BMW also declined to give a target for 2005 sales or earnings, the report said.
