The BMW Group recorded strong sales volume increases for all its brands and continued its successful course in the second quarter of 2004. New quarterly records were set for sales volume, revenues and earnings.
"The BMW Group has demonstrated its strength with a positive performance," Helmut Panke, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said.
"During the second quarter of 2004 and on a six months comparable basis, the BMW Group has grown on the back of its product initiative and outperformed the overall market in virtually all of the major international automobile markets.
"We remain confident that we will be able to record further sales volume increases for all brands and achieve new record figures for revenues and earnings for the full year."
Group revenues for the second quarter of 2004, at €11,910 million, were up by 16% (second quarter 2003: €10,266 million). Group revenues for the first six months of 2004 increased by 10.5% to €22,715 million (€20,563 million).
Profit from ordinary activities for the second quarter of 2004 was €1,084 million, an improvement of 14.5% (€947 million). Profit from ordinary activities for the first six months of 2004 also clearly surpassed the corresponding figure for 2003.
At €1,935 million, the profit from ordinary activities of the BMW Group was 8.9% ahead of the corresponding period last year (first half-year 2003: €1,777 million).
The automobiles segment contributed significantly to this improvement. Profit from ordinary activities of this segment for the second quarter of 2004 rose by 26.4% to €971 million (second quarter 2003: €768 million). Thanks to this positive development, the segment return on sales improved to 8.4% (8%).
Net profit of the BMW Group for the second quarter 2004 rose to €671 million, an 18.1% increase (€568 million) and also a new record. Net profit for the first half of 2004 thus amounted to €1,194 million, an improvement of 10.8% (€1,078 million).
More than 1,100 new jobs created
The BMW Group had a worldwide workforce of 105,388 employees at June 30, 2% more than a year earlier (103,335 employees). More than 1,100 new jobs have been created worldwide since the beginning of 2004.
The BMW Group has recruited more than 1,700 employees for the new BMW plant in Leipzig. Approximately half of these are currently working in various BMW Group plants in Bavaria preparing for their new tasks.
Numerous new models
"The BMW Group has achieved important milestones in the first half of 2004, both in terms of expanding and renewing the group's vehicle range and expanding its presence on international markets" Mr Panke said.
Following the start of sales of the BMW X3 and BMW 6 Series Coupé in January, and of the BMW 6 Series Cabrio in March, the new BMW 5 Series Touring became available in May. The MINI One Convertible and the MINI Cooper Convertible have been available since the beginning of July and the MINI Cooper S Convertible followed this month.
According to Mr Panke: "With the launch of the new BMW 1 Series in September, the BMW Group will move into the compact vehicle segment with a premium product."
The fourth generation of the BMW M5 will come onto the market later this year.
Strong growth in the car business
In total, 321,010 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand cars were handed over to customers in the second quarter 2004, 13.3% more than in the previous year (283,296 units). For the six-month period, sales volume increased by 8.5% to 590,983 units (544,869 units).
As a result of the growth in sales volume, revenues of the automobiles segment, at €11,515 million for the second quarter 2004, surpassed the equivalent figure for the previous year by 19.4% (€9,647 million).
At the same time, profit from ordinary activities of the automobiles segment improved sharply: at €971 million in the second quarter 2004, the comparable figure for the same quarter last year was surpassed by 26.4% (€768 million). The segment profit for the first half of 2004 was €1,713 million, 15.2% ahead of the previous year (€1,487 million).
A total of 273,429 BMW brand cars (239,205 cars) were sold in the second quarter of 2004, an increase of 14.3%; 495,496 BMW brand cars were delivered to customers in the first six months of 2004, an increase of 8.9% (454,972 cars).
The MINI has established itself as a premium car in the small car segment. Almost 441,000 units have been sold since the MINI's launch in July 2001.
Sales volume in the second quarter of 2004, at 47,402 units, surpassed the figure for the previous year by 7.6% (44,073 units); 95,168 MINI brand cars were delivered to customers during the first half of 2004, 5.9% more than during the corresponding period last year (89,878 units).
The Rolls-Royce Phantom sets standards at the very top end of the luxury segment: 319 Rolls-Royce motor vehicles were handed over to customers in the first six months.
Motorcycle sales volume affected
Despite continuing unfavourable market conditions, the BMW Group was able to maintain its motorcycle business in the second quarter 2004 at the previous year's level. With 30,635 units sold, the sales volume was only marginally (-0.2%) below the comparable figure for the previous year (30,688).
As expected, high demand for the new long-distance enduro, the R1200 GS, contributed to this comparatively good performance. On a six-month comparable basis, however, the model lifecycle induced impact of the first quarter 2004 affected the overall sales performance.