Ugly Always beats Broken
08-07-2004, 07:52 PM
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Ugly Always beats Broken Just goes to show even Ugly cars will outsell cars with plummeting reliability.
BMW quarter outpaces Mercedes
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: August 5 2004 04:00 | Last updated: August 5 2004 04:00
BMW, the German upmarket carmaker, outpaced rival Mercedes in the three months to June with a higher than expected increase in pre-tax profits and by reconfirming its forecast of increased earnings for the full year.
Pre-tax profits rose 14.5 per cent to €1.1bn ($1.3bn) while revenues increased by 16 per cent to €11.9bn, the Munich-based company said.
Helmut Panke, BMW chief executive, was 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."
BMW reported pre-tax profits of €3.2bn for 2003.
The results highlighted the success of BMW's aggressive programme of producing new models, which continues next month with the launch of the 1-series in the compact hatchback market.
The relatively unambitious full-year target took some of the shine off the results and the shares ended down 3.9 per cent at €35.61.
Nevertheless, BMW's results proved a contrast to last week's results from DaimlerChrysler, which though stronger overall showed an 18 per cent drop in second-quarter operating profits at its Mercedes Car division to €703m. In the first half of 2004, BMW overtook Mercedes in global sales. DaimlerChrysler said it expected full-year earnings at Mercedes to be lower than in 2003.
However, Mercedes' results have been hit by start-up costs for new models as well as the cost of quality improvements.
BMW managed to defy the downturn in the German car market, increasing deliveries in the country by more than 9 per cent in the second quarter. Deliveries of BMW brand cars were up 14.3 per cent at 273,429 and deliveries of Minis were up 7.6 per cent at 47,402.
Mr Panke said that, in nearly all regions, BMW had grown faster than the market overall and it could be "that we are not dealing with a general trend in the automotive industry but rather with business cycles of individual companies".
BMW's automotive division reported the fastest growth in profits, up 26.4 per cent in the second quarter at €971m. Financial services were up 15.3 per cent at €136m. See Lex
By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt
Published: August 5 2004 04:00 | Last updated: August 5 2004 04:00
BMW, the German upmarket carmaker, outpaced rival Mercedes in the three months to June with a higher than expected increase in pre-tax profits and by reconfirming its forecast of increased earnings for the full year.
Pre-tax profits rose 14.5 per cent to €1.1bn ($1.3bn) while revenues increased by 16 per cent to €11.9bn, the Munich-based company said.
Helmut Panke, BMW chief executive, was 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."
BMW reported pre-tax profits of €3.2bn for 2003.
The results highlighted the success of BMW's aggressive programme of producing new models, which continues next month with the launch of the 1-series in the compact hatchback market.
The relatively unambitious full-year target took some of the shine off the results and the shares ended down 3.9 per cent at €35.61.
Nevertheless, BMW's results proved a contrast to last week's results from DaimlerChrysler, which though stronger overall showed an 18 per cent drop in second-quarter operating profits at its Mercedes Car division to €703m. In the first half of 2004, BMW overtook Mercedes in global sales. DaimlerChrysler said it expected full-year earnings at Mercedes to be lower than in 2003.
However, Mercedes' results have been hit by start-up costs for new models as well as the cost of quality improvements.
BMW managed to defy the downturn in the German car market, increasing deliveries in the country by more than 9 per cent in the second quarter. Deliveries of BMW brand cars were up 14.3 per cent at 273,429 and deliveries of Minis were up 7.6 per cent at 47,402.
Mr Panke said that, in nearly all regions, BMW had grown faster than the market overall and it could be "that we are not dealing with a general trend in the automotive industry but rather with business cycles of individual companies".
BMW's automotive division reported the fastest growth in profits, up 26.4 per cent in the second quarter at €971m. Financial services were up 15.3 per cent at €136m. See Lex
