BMW Group Raises the Bar in Matter of Sales and Earnings for 2011

Giving the fact that there is a growing demand on the international auto markets, BMW now expects that business performance and earnings will be significantly better than previously forecasted. BMW predicts that unit sales in 2011 will grow above 10% compared to the previous year to over 1.6 million BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce models.

The manufacturer’s forecast for the year had previously been set for a sales volume of over 1.5 million units. Furthermore, the number of vehicles sold in the first half of 2011 increased by 19.7% to 833,366 units. The Bavarian manufacturer aims to achieve a reasonable balance between worldwide markets like Europe, Asia and the Americas.

After viewing the strong performance to date and the outlook for the coming months, the automotive segment is expected to achieve en EBIT level of 10% for the full year, compared to the previous forecast of over 8%. Furthermore BMW Group continues to target a return on capital employed (RoCE) in excess of 26%.

The manufacturer is on a steady course due to the growth of sales in the segment of automobile during the second half of the year, due to the market launch and the unveiling of the successor models.

BMW Group now expects to gain an even larger improvement in pre-tax earnings than previously forecasted, as expected all the targets are based on the assumption that economic and political conditions remain steady.