BMW Posts Another Year of Record Sales, Profit Gains

BMW Group reports gains in 2016 of 2% to €94.2 billion ($99.7 billion) in revenue and 8% to €6.9 billion ($7.3 billion) in net profit. Both figures were all-time record highs for the seventh consecutive year.

Unit sales by the company’s BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands rose 5% to a record 2.37 million units. But the company lost its luxury-car sales leadership to Daimler AG’s revival Mercedes-Benz brand.

The group’s profit margin (earnings before interest and taxes margin) on automotive operations shrank to a six-year-low of 8.9% from 9.2% in 2015, thereby dropping to the low end of the company’s target range of 8%-10%.

BMW is focusing much of its product development budget on all-electric and self-driving vehicle technologies. CEO Harald Krueger says the group will begin “firmly embedding” electric powertrains in its core brands in 2019. The company also plans to introduce a self-driving EV, the iNext, in 2021.

BMW predicts a slight increase in unit sales this year. The company expects continued volatility in political and economic conditions worldwide.