BMW overtakes profit forecasts on the 2nd tri with record sales

FRANKFURT (Reuters)-new models and strong sales in China helped BMW beating profit forecasts in the second quarter and kept the company on track to remain the largest automaker of luxury cars in the world under the challenge of their German rivals.
The main BMW brand sales rose 8.3 percent to 458 thousand vehicles, a record, as new models like the 4 Series and the Compact 2 Series helped the group to take advantage of stronger demand in China and Europe.
The earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) jumped 26 percent to 2.6 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars), said the company on Tuesday, surpassing a forecast of 2.23 billion euros in a Reuters poll of analysts.
"This is a great resilience and we remain convinced that the market is underestimating the power of BMW's profit in the medium and long term," said analysts at ISI Group in a statement.
Luxury automakers endured six years of falling sales, in part, thanks to strong demand from emerging markets. However, signs of a slowdown in some of these countries and a still fragile recovery in Europe have raised concerns about future demand.
BMW also faces strong competition from archrivals Audi, part of Volkswagen Group and Mercedes-Benz, owned by Daimler.
BMW's goal is a significant growth of sales to 2 million vehicles or more this year, after having sold a record 1.96 million units between the brands Mini, Rolls-royce and BMW in 2013.
The company also reiterated its goal of raising pre-tax profit by as much as 10 percent.
Last year, BMW led the global race with 1.65 million cars sold by flagship brand, surpassing 1.57 million units of Audi and 1.47 million cars of Mercedes.
(By Edward Taylor)