At €20,853 million, BMW Group revenues for the period from January to March were at a similar level to the previous year (2015: €20,917 million; -0.3%).
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This was influenced by increased sales volume on the one hand and unfavourable currency factors (such as the value of the British pound and the Chinese renminbi against the euro) on the other.
Profit before financial result (EBIT) amounted to €2,457 million (2015: €2,521 million; -2.5%). Group profit before tax (EBT) increased by 4.4% to a new record level of €2,368 million (2015: €2,269 million). Group net profit rose by 8.2% to €1,641 million (2015: €1,516 million), also marking a new first quarter record.
At €18,814 million, Automotive segment revenues were at a similar level to the previous year (2015: €18,893 million; -0.4%). EBIT amounted to €1,763 million, also coming very close to the previous year’s figure (2015: €1,794 million; -1.7%).
The EBIT margin in the Automotive segment came in at 9.4% (2015: 9.5%) and was therefore once again in the upper half of the targeted range between 8 and 10%. Profit before tax rose by 6.1% from €1,634 million to €1,734 million.
The BMW brand set a new sales volume record, with 478,743 units (2015: 451,576 units; +6.0%) sold in the first quarter. Tailwind came from various areas, including the contributions made by the BMW Group’s flagship model, the BMW 7 Series, and the BMW X models. First-quarter deliveries of the BMW 7 Series were 20.3% ahead of the previous year. In addition the BMW 7 Series plug-in-hybrid and the BMW M760Li xDrive will come to market this year.
Sales of the BMW X1 in the three-month period jumped by 67.6% year-on-year to 51,002 units. The BMW X3 recorded a 26.9% sales volume increase to 38,719 units, and the BMW X6 was 15.2% up on the previous year (11,043 units).
Customers took delivery of 5,128 electrically powered BMW i vehicles worldwide during the first three months of the year, bringing the total number sold since market launch at the end of 2013 to over 50,000 units. An additional version of the BMW i3 with an electric range of up to 300 kilometres in the standard cycle (NEDC) is expected to stimulate demand from summer onwards.
Even in everyday use, in bad weather conditions and with the air conditioning or heating turned on, up to 200 kilometres of range can be achieved on one full battery charge.
MINI recorded a new high for deliveries to customers in a first quarter as well, with worldwide sales 5.4% higher at 78,311 units (2015: 74,312 units). Strong momentum came from the new MINI Clubman, of which more than 12,000 units were sold during the three-month period.
First-quarter sales of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars were affected by a number of factors, including political and economic uncertainties, most notably in the Middle East. Preparations for the market launch of the Dawn also had an impact.
In total, 551 units were handed over to customers during the period under report (2015: 781 units; -29.4%). The new Rolls-Royce Dawn made its debut at the end of March. Order intake is good and is expected to stimulate demand.
The positive trend for the BMW Group continued in Europe, where first-quarter sales of 257,120 units were up 9.5% on the previous year. Numerous markets in the region recorded sales volume growth, even on a double-digit scale in some countries, including Great Britain (+10.5%; 59,169 units), France (+10.7%; 20,816 units) and Italy (+11.5%; 19,951 units).
First-quarter sales of BMW Group vehicles in Asia rose by 9.9% to 183,204 units, including 127,167 units sold on the Chinese mainland (+10.5%) and 18,703 units in Japan (+8.8%).
Deliveries to customers in the Americas region decreased by 8.7% to 100,245 units, including 81,601 units (-10.8%) sold in the USA.
The Motorcycles segment continues to perform well. The number of BMW motorcycles sold to customers worldwide since the beginning of the year rose by 7.7% to 33,788 units, with the BMW R 1200 GS long-distance enduro and its sister model, the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure, remaining BMW Motorrad’s best-selling models.
The Boxer GS also performed well, with 11,391 units sold worldwide during the three-month period. First-quarter segment revenues were 2.6% higher at €582 million (2015: €567 million) on the back of good sales volumes. EBIT amounted to €94 million (2015: €115 million; -18.3%), while profit before tax also finished at €94 million (2015: €114 million;
The Financial Services segment continued to perform well during the period from January to March, setting a new first quarter record. In total, 413,372 (2015: 384,565) new contracts were signed in conjunction with financing and leasing business in the first quarter, 7.5% more than in the previous year.
The number of lease and financing contracts increased by 8.3% to a total of 4,786,441 contracts at the end of the reporting period (2015: 4,419,817 contracts).
At €6,032 million, segment revenues were at a similar level to the previous year (2015: €6,058 million: -0.4%). Segment profit before tax improved by 2.0% to €570 million (2015: €559 million) on the back of increased business volumes.
The size of the workforce increased by 4.4% compared with the end of the first quarter of the previous year. ■