BMW Group has reported strong revenues and sales figures for the second quarter of 2015 despite what it calls volatile markets. In the period from April to June the Motorrad division in particular reported increased pre-tax profits. Group profit ahead of the financial report exceeded €5 billion for the first half of 2015, a first for the German car and motorcycle maker.
Group revenues in the second quarter rose by 20.2 per cent to €23.93 billion, with more favourable currency factors contributing towards this but its profit before financial result (EBIT) is down slightly over the same period in 2014. Among the reasons cited for this slight decline include higher personnel costs and increased expenditure on new product development. In total the second quarter EBIT amounted to €2.58 billion, which is a decline of 3.0 per cent compared with the same period in 2014, however, overall the six month EBIT for 2015 rose by 7.5 per cent to €5.04 billion.
The BMW brand recorded new sales of 480,465 in the second quarter of 2015, an increase of 4.9 per cent, while sales over the first half of the year increased by 5.2 per cent to 932,014 units. Of this period the big performers included the BMW 4 Series (79,351 units), BMW 2 Series (64,285 units) along with the BMW X5 (85,983 units) and BMW X6 (22,125 units).
Commenting on the report, Harald Krüger, the Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said: "We remain firmly on track, achieving our best figures to date in terms of sale volume, revenues and earnings. We remain committed to achieving an evenly balanced distribution of worldwide sales and maintaining the flexibility to react appropriately to developments on individual markets."
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MINI also recorded a 23.8 per cent increase in sales volume in the second quarter of the year with sales of 91,626 units, with the first six months sales totalling 165,938 units. The brand also expects its second half of the year to remain strong, with the new MINI Clubman due to arrive in quarter four.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars achieved its second-best six-month sales volume in the company's history with a total of 1,769 cars delivered in the first half of 2015 although this figure is still down over 10 per cent compared with its performance in 2014.