BMW Group Announces 2009 Earnings

The recession did not affect everybody the same, especially in the auto industry. BMW Group said that, despite the financial and economic crisis worldwide, it managed to reach its objectives for 2009.

“We are confident that the BMW Group will, as planned, be able to post a profit before tax for 2009. This demonstrates that rigorous cost management and other wide-ranging measures to improve profitability in conjunction with our Strategy Number ONE are taking effect“, stated Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, on Friday in Munich.

The group revenues dropped only 4.7% and reached 50,681 million, which is not bad at all. The Automobiles part of the group is responsible for revenues of 43,737 million (-10.3%), the Motorcycles is responsible for revenues of 1,069 million (-13.1%), while the Financial Services segment increased its revenues by 0.5% to euro 15,798 million. BMW Group sold 1,286,310 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles in 2009 (-10.4%).

Though the recession’s impact on the auto market will continue in 2010, BMW is confident that sales will grow due to its new models line up and the gradual global economic recovery.

“The BMW Group can start the new year with a certain amount of optimism. New models will provide tailwind over the course of the year. We fully intend to remain the world’s leading provider of premium vehicles in 2010 and plan to increase sales within the single digit percentage range to over 1.3 million units“, added Reithofer.

The Annual Report 2009 will be presented at the Annual Accounts Press Conference on 17 March 2010.