The BMW Group has reported its highest ever sales volumes, revenues and earnings for a third quarter.

The BMW Group sold 296,310 cars during the quarter from July to September 2004 (third quarter 2003: 270,439 cars), representing a growth of 9.6% compared to the third quarter last year. Sales volume for the first nine months rose to 887,293 cars (first nine months 2003: 815,308 cars), an increase of 8.8%.

Group revenues for the third quarter 2004, at €10.6 billion (£7.32 billion), were 6.3% ahead of the previous year. On a nine-month basis, group revenues of euro 33,326 million surpassed the figure for the corresponding period last year by 9.1%.

The profit from ordinary activities for the third quarter 2004 was €779 million (£538.6 million, compared to €724 million (£500 million) in 2003, an improvement of 7.6%. On a nine-month basis, the profit from ordinary activities, at €2,7 billion (£1.8 billion), was 8.5% higher than in the previous year (first nine months 2003: €2.5 billion/£1.73 billion).

The net profit of the BMW Group for the third quarter 2004 rose to €479 million/£331 million (third quarter 2003: €445 million/£308 million), an increase of 7.6%. The net profit for the period from January to September 2004 amounted to €1.7 billion/£1.2 billion (first nine months 2003: €1.5 billion/£1.04 billion), an improvement of 9.8%.

"Bolstered by this strong third quarter performance, the BMW Group anticipates that the development achieved during the first nine months of 2004 will be sustained in the fourth quarter," says Helmut Panke, BMW chairman. "The BMW Group will report new high levels for sales volume, revenues and earnings for the full year 2004 and thus achieve its targets for the year". BMW’s car business ‘contributed substantially’ to the overall result in the third quarter, recording a profit from ordinary activities of €694 million (£480 million), compared to €570 million (£394 million) or 21.8% up on the third quarter of 2003.