BMW embarks on big model offensive
MUNICH: German luxury carmaker BMW AG said yesterday that it was planning as many as 40 new top-of-the-range models in the coming years in an effort to catch up after historic rival Mercedes-Benz outsold it in 2016.
“The Munich-based group plans some 40 new or updated models in 2017 and 2018, arming it for the biggest product offensive in its history,” chief executive Harald Krueger said at an annual press conference.
“We’ve always been an ambitious company. I promise that we will remain one,” he added.
Mercedes-Benz, flagship of Stuttgart’s Daimler group, beat BMW to the top spot in the luxury car segment last year for the first time in more than a decade.
Whether counting by unit sales or profit margin, the three-pointed Mercedes star has pulled ahead of BMW’s blue-and-white propeller logo.
Beyond the 40 new models, BMW plans to boost its offering of lucrative, luxury vehicles to complement the top-of-the-line 7-Series sedan.
“The goal is to challenge Mercedes and make BMW the strongest brand in this segment and significantly increase our sales volumes and revenues here by 2020,” Krueger said.
BMW, which also owns Mini and RollsRoyce, has sunk big investments into electric-drive cars and into connectivity as it looks to the future.
But it still managed to book net profit growth of 8% to €6.9 billion ($7.5 billion) in 2016, financial results released in early March showed, on the back of record units sales and revenues for the seventh year in a row.
“The Bavarian firm aims for a slight increase in pre-tax profit as well as new records in sales and revenues this year, despite a volatile environment,” finance chief Nicolas Peter said.
Asked about the impact of Britain’s departure from the European Union on BMW — which operates four factories in the island nation — sales director Ian Robertson said it was still “far too soon to say what will happen” in negotiations between London and Brussels.
Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that she would formally launch two-year exit negotiations with European partners on March 29.