The BMW Group says it has started the financial year 2018 with a “strong” first quarter. “Despite volatile conditions and unfavourable exchange rate effects, new best ever figures were recorded for sales volume and net profit.
In motorcycle terms, BMW Motorrad sales volume in the first quarter was at the same level as the previous year. Worldwide deliveries to customers edged up marginally by +0.6% to 35,858 units (Q1 2017: 35,636 units), setting a new first-quarter sales volume record for the seventh year in succession.
However, the company says motorcycle segment performance “was held down by the impact of the current model change and by currency effects”. Revenues fell by -15.5% to € 524 million (2017: € 620 million). EBIT was also adversely affected by the same factors and finished at € 77 million (2017: € 125 million; -38.4%).
Pre-tax profit for the three-month period amounted to € 78 million (2017: € 125 million; -37.6%). The first-quarter EBIT margin for the Motorcycles segment came in at 14.7% (2017: 20.2%). In the light of slightly slower production ramp-up of new models, retail sales for 2018 are now expected to grow only slightly for the year.
In automotive as well as motorcycle terms, BMW continues to grapple with the challenges and invest in the opportunities that are affecting all aspects of 21st century transport policy. Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, is quoted as saying: “Our industry is currently going through a phase of unprecedented technological change and must master the highly challenging conditions.
“The first quarter highlights some important points: we think in terms of opportunities and are pursuing a well-defined strategy; we are combining tomorrow's mobility with sustainable profitability – underlined by the fact that we are capable of generating a high pre-tax margin on group level, even in volatile times”.
On 11 April, the BMW Group opened its campus for autonomous driving just outside Munich, where together with partners, it will develop the technologies required for both highly and fully automated driving.
