BMW to transform with new strategy and line-ups

Harald Krueger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

BMW Group revealed its new Strategy Number One > Next and announced the new line-ups in Munich on Wednesday, following its sixth consecutive record-breaking year in the global market, and 1.6 percent expansion in the Chinese mainland.

The premium individual mobility provider, with its Strategy Number One > Next, is setting out the framework in an expectation to shape change in the automobile sector. The BMW Group said it intends to remain the driving force with a clear focus on people and their environment, and to deliver ground-breaking and responsible solutions.

Harald Krueger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, said: "We are setting the standard with our Strategy Number One > Next, both now and in the future. We will lead the BMW Group into a new era, one in which we will transform and shape both individual mobility and the entire sector in a permanent way."

In the coming years, the group will focus on broadening its technological expertise, and the technological focus will be on consistently achieving further advances in the fields of electric mobility and automated driving.

"We will be broadening our model range with the BMW X7. We are also taking an in-depth look at the additional potential of this highly attractive segment," he said at the annual accounts press conference.

The current plug-in hybrids are in their third generation and are technological market leaders. With the fourth generation, the electric range will be extended. Development of the fifth generation is already underway.

A further expansion of the M product range is already being planned, after the BMW M2 impressed both press and public.

A new generation of Rolls-Royce motor cars is going to be available from early 2018, and the ultra luxury brand is testing its new aluminum space-frame architecture for all future Rolls-Royce models.

"We are targeting new highs for sales volume and group profit before tax," Krueger said. The target for the Earnings Before Interest and Tax margin ranges between 8 and 10 percent -- unchanged for 2016.

The launches of the new generations of BMW X1 and MINI Clubman models towards the end of 2015 are also expected to boost sales volume figures in 2016.

The BMW brand maintained its top position in the premium segment last year. The group's automobile sales volume climbed 6.1 percent to a new record level of 2,247,485 units, from 2,117,965 units in 2014. Sales volume growth was realized in all major sales regions, in line with its strategy of achieving a balanced distribution of worldwide sales.

The Chinese mainland market has continued being the group's largest single market since 2012.

The premium carmaker's sales volume reached 464,086 units in the Chinese mainland last year, up from 456,732 units in 2014. Its net profit jumped 10 percent year-on-year to 6.3 billion euros. Following the Chinese mainland, the other three largest markets over the past year were the United States, Germany and Great Britain.