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BMW Quarterly Profit Increases 18% on 3-Series Sales (Update4)

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, reported second-quarter profit increased 18 percent, exceeding analysts' estimates, on higher sales of the 3-Series sedan and station-wagon models.
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Chief Executive Officer Helmut Panke, who will retire this month, forecast record profit this year, helped by a 350 million- euro gain from reducing a stake in aircraft-engine maker Rolls- Royce Group Plc. BMW in 2005 surpassed DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes unit in the luxury car market by developing 11 new models.

``BMW is probably the best among the three major German carmakers,'' said Jens Ehrhardt, who oversees more than 6 billion euros at Dr. Jens Ehrhardt Kapital AG in Munich, before the announcement. Higher profit margins are ``all investors care about at the end of the day.''
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The 3-Series mid-sized model is BMW's most popular car and accounts for almost half of the company's total vehicle sales. The car competes with the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volkswagen AG's Audi A4. The newest version was introduced last year.

3-Series Sales
Sales of the 3-Series sedan rose 37 percent in the first half to 175,141 units, while sales of the station wagon version almost doubled to 53,728.

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BMW introduced the 1-Series compact hatchback model and the Mini over the past five years. Both cars start at less than 20,000 euros compared with 40,000 euros for the X5 and 55,000 euros for the 7-Series, not including value-added tax.

``What I haven't liked is the trend toward smaller and lower- margin cars over the last years,'' said Ehrhardt. ``If you focus on higher margin cars, as exemplified by Porsche over the last years, you can only generate higher profit margins.''

Porsche AG has the highest profit margins in the industry, earning more than 4,000 euros per vehicle sold last year compared with about 1,700 euros for BMW. [...]

More New Models

BMW this year is adding a face-lifted version of the X3 small SUV to its lineup as well as a new 3-Series coupe, Z4 coupe and Rolls-Royce convertible. The Mini range will also be expanded with new models equipped with more space and new engines.

The BMW group sold 365,547 vehicles in the quarter, a 3.1 percent gain. Panke has said growth this year will be slower than last year's nearly 10 percent increase. The company's largest BMW model, the 7-Series, and the X5 sport-utility vehicle have reached sales peaks while 5-Series sales have started to slow.
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Panke will be replaced by production chief Norbert Reithofer on Sept. 1, the day after the chief executive turns 60 and retires.