X5 and Mini models power BMW sales to record 1.5m cars
Frankfurt – BMW’s full-year profit rose 9 percent and it boosted its annual dividend as new versions of the X5 sport utility vehicle and Mini car won customers, the German car maker announced yesterday.
Net income advanced to €3.13 billion (R38.45 billion) from €2.87 billion a year earlier, the company said. Analysts had predicted profit of €2.89 billion.
BMW sold a record 1.5 million vehicles last year, a 9.2 percent increase, helped by the X5 and Mini models that went on sale at the end of 2006.
Chief executive Norbert Reithofer yesterday said the car maker would raise its dividend by 51 percent to €1.06 a common share.
BMW in September said it planned to deliver 1.8 million vehicles a year by 2012, with sales exceeding 2 million vehicles by 2020. A coupé version of the 1-Series compact and a US-built crossover vehicle called the X6 were intended to help sales gain this year.
Deliveries of the X5 surged 60 percent last year, while sales of the Mini rose 19 percent.
BMW announced plans last month to eliminate 8 100 jobs, mostly temporary positions, as part of a cost-cutting drive to catch up with German competitor Daimler in profitability. Reithofer plans to cut spending by €6 billion to help achieve a return on sales of as much as 10 percent by 2012.
Source: Business Report
