OREANDA-NEWS. The BMW Group continued its course of profitable growth during the second quarter of 2016, whilst also taking important decisions for the future in line with its Strategy Number ONE > NEXT. As the world’s leading provider of premium products and services for individual mobility, the BMW Group recorded its best ever quarterly sales volume and net profit figures between April and June. The partnership with Intel and Mobileye underlines the BMW Group’s ambition to play a leading role in developing safe and reliable automated driving.

“We sold more vehicles in the second quarter than ever before and achieved record earnings. We are growing profitably while simultaneously implementing our strategy step by step,” stated Harald Kr?ger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, on Tuesday. “Sustainable profitability on this scale provides us with the financial headroom we need to pursue our work on future technologies such as electric mobility and automated driving. For me, there is no “either/or” between the present and the future. The strength of today’s core business is the cornerstone for tomorrow’s success.”

Second-quarter sales volume of the BMW Group’s three premium brands (BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce) climbed by 5.7% to 605,534 units (2015: 573,079 units), thereby marking a new high for a quarter. Once again, the BMW Group was the world’s leading manufacturer of premium vehicles.

Second-quarter revenues rose by 4.5% to € 25,014 million (2015: € 23,935 million). At € 2,725 million, profit before financial result (EBIT) was 7.9% higher than one year earlier (2015: € 2,525 million). Group profit before tax (EBT) increased by 8.4% to a new high level of € 2,798 million (2015: € 2,582 million). Group net profit rose by 11.4% to € 1,949 million (2015: € 1,749 million), also marking a new record for a second quarter.

BMW Group achieves best ever six-month figures in first half of 2016

Six-month sales recorded by the Automotive segment rose by 5.8% to reach a new high of 1,163,139 units (2015: 1,099,748 units). The strategy of balancing sales worldwide continued to pay off, allowing fluctuations in some markets to be offset.

Six-month revenues edged up by 2.3% to € 45,867 million (2015: € 44,852 million). Profit before financial result (EBIT) rose by 2.7% to € 5,182 million (2015: € 5,046 million). Group profit before tax (EBT) increased by 6.5% to a new all-time high level of € 5,166 million (2015: € 4,851 million). Group net profit rose by 10.0% to € 3,590 million (2015: € 3,265 million), also marking a new record for the first six months of a year.

Automotive segment: EBIT margin at upper end of target range

Second-quarter revenues of the Automotive segment grew by 5.6% to € 22,872 million (2015: € 21,650 million). EBIT rose sharply to € 2,178 million (2015: € 1,819 million; +19.7%). The EBIT margin in the Automotive segment came in at 9.5% (2015: 8.4%), the 25th consecutive quarter within the target range of between 8 and 10% or higher. Segment profit before tax rose by 23.5% from € 1,844 million to € 2,277 million.

“A look at the EBIT margin for the past 25 quarters shows that we do not only focus on short-term results. More importantly, we concentrate on what we consider to be our primary responsibility: delivering consistently good results, even in volatile times, in order that we can finance and shape the company’s future based on our own underlying strength,” pointed out Friedrich Eichiner, member of the Board of Management responsible for Finance.

Six-month revenues of the Automotive segment grew by 2.8% to € 41,686 million (2015: € 40,543 million). Segment EBIT increased to € 3,941 million (2015: € 3,613 million; +9.1%), resulting in an EBIT margin of 9.5% (2015: 8.9%). Profit before tax improved sharply to € 4,011 million (2015: € 3,478 million; +15.3%).

Sales of BMW brand vehicles in the second quarter rose by 5.7% to a new high of 507,814 units (2015: 480,465 units). The equivalent six-month figure of 986,557 units (2015: 932,041 units; +5.8%) also broke all existing records. Tailwind came from various directions, including sales of the BMW Group’s flagship model, the BMW 7 Series, and the BMW X models. Six-month deliveries of the BMW 7 Series were 31.7% up on the previous year. Additional momentum is expected to come from the plug-in hybrid version of the 740e and from the top model BMW M760Li xDrive. Sales of the BMW X1 during the six-month period jumped by 61.7% to 94,156 units, while BMW 2 Series deliveries to customers were up by 52.4% to 97,949 units. The BMW X3 recorded a 16.6% increase, with sales volume rising to 77,486 units.

Demand for electrified BMW i and iPerformance models equipped with a plug-in hybrid drive system grew particularly strongly in Europe. In June, electric vehicles accounted for four per cent of all BMW vehicles sold in Western Europe. The percentage is significantly higher in markets promoting electric mobility in the form of financial incentives and infrastructural measures. In the Netherlands, 14.9% of all BMW vehicles sold in June were BMW i or BMW iPerformance models. The equivalent proportion in Scandinavia was 13.2%.

The BMW Group currently offers seven electrified models including plug-in hybrids, such as the new BMW 740e or the recently launched BMW 330e and BMW 225xe Active Tourer, and the fully electric BMW i3. Thanks to the expanded range of electrified models, sales of this type of vehicle in the first six months of the year were just under 87% higher than the same period last year: a total of 23,675 have been delivered to customers worldwide. Furthermore, to the end of July 2016, over 7,000 orders had been received for the additional BMW i3 model with significantly extended battery range, which only celebrated its market launch in July. This is more than three times the figure of orders received for the first generation BMW i3 at the equivalent launch period.

MINI also recorded a new high for deliveries to customers in the second quarter. Worldwide sales were 5.4% higher at 96,587 units (2015: 91,626 units), with momentum coming in particular from the new MINI Clubman and the MINI Convertible. Six-month sales at MINI climbed by 5.4% to 174,898 units.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars achieved a new sales volume record of 1,133 units in the second quarter (2015: 988 units; +14.7%). This performance was helped by a strong contribution made by the new Rolls-Royce Dawn, of which 514 units had been sold since its market launch in March. The addition of this latest member to the family provided the expected boost to the brand’s sales figures, which had been affected in the early months of the year by the production changeover. Worldwide sales for the six-month period totalled 1,684 units (2015: 1,769 units; -4.8%).

The upward trend for the BMW Group continued in Europe, with six-month sales up 11.2% year-on-year to 543,270 units. Double-digit growth was recorded in a number of markets, including Great Britain (+10.7%; 122,720 units), France (+12.0%; 43,314 units) and Italy (+15.2%; 41,455 units).

Deliveries of BMW Group vehicles in Asia during the six-month period rose by 7.3% to 361,568 units, including 247,817 units sold on the Chinese mainland (+7.4%) and 36,598 units in Japan (+7.8%).

Sales volume in the Americas region during the six-month period fell by 8.0% to 223,098 units, including 179,102 units (-10.2%) sold in the USA.

Motorcycles segment exceeds sales volume of 80,000 units for the first time in the first half of a year – sales guidance raised

The Motorcycles segment continues to perform well. At 46,966 units, second-quarter sales of BMW motorcycles and maxi-scooters worldwide remained at the previous year’s high level (47,048 units; -0.2%). Segment revenues totalled € 617 million in the second quarter, similar to one year earlier (2015: € 622 million; - 0.8%). Earnings, however, were down on the previous year, due to starting a number of projects which support the implementation of the Motorcycles segment’s new strategy. EBIT amounted to € 98 million (2015: € 112 million; -12.5%), while profit before tax finished at € 97 million (2015: € 112 million; -13.4%).

For the first time in the first half of a year, more than 80,000 motorcycles and maxi-scooters were delivered to customers during the first half of 2016. Sales volume during the period from January to June increased by 3.0% to 80,754 units (2015: 78,418 units) – the fourth successive record figure for the first half of a year. At € 1,199 million, segment revenues were at a similar level to the previous year (2015: € 1,189 million: +0.8%). EBIT amounted to € 192 million (2015: € 227 million; -15.4%), while profit before tax finished at € 191 million (2015: € 226 million; -15.5%). The Motorcycles segment’s sales volume performance is expected to improve further during the second half of the year thanks to its attractive and young model range. For the full year, a solid (previously: slight) increase in retail sales is expected.