BMW has reported total group profits for the half year to June 30 up 192.8% - the best performance ever – to 934m euro (£578m).

The company is forecasting that the number of BMW and Mini brand vehicles sold by the end of this year might pass 900,000 for the first time.

Sales of BMW cars rose in the first half of the year by 19.3% to a total value of 17,431m euro (Jan-Jun 2000: 14,609m euro).

Prof Joachim Milberg, chairman of BMW's board of management, said: “All-time highs in volume sales and production made the first half of 2001 the best in the history of BMW Automobiles. New record values have been achieved for sales every month since the beginning of the year. A total of 459,835 BMW vehicles had been sold by the end of June.”