Statement by
Dr. Helmut Panke
Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
BMW Group Press Conference
2004 Paris Motor Show
23 September 2004
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome from me, too, to the BMW Group stand here in Paris.
This year we once again have a number of new products here at the Paris Motor Show. In particular, these are the new BMW 1 Series, the new BMW M5, and a number of new engines we are proud to present here on our stand.
Let me begin with the new BMW 1 Series that makes its motor show debut here in Paris: This car is a major milestone in the expansion of the BMW Group.
In its size and character, the BMW 1 Series goes back to the legendary BMW 2002 in the late '60s. Indeed, down to the very last millimetre, the BMW 1 Series is exactly as long as the 2002 many years ago.
So it is fair to say that the BMW 1 Series marks the re-entry of the BMW brand into the compact class. We are back!
But why are we taking this step?
The answer is simple: The compact class is now the largest single market segment for cars worldwide, amounting to some 12 million units a year. And this seg¬ment will be growing by approximately 20 per cent up to the year 2010. Moreover, the premium segment in the compact class will grow over-proportionally, expanding by 2010 by almost 50 per cent.
The reason for this trend is growing demand for differentiation, individuality and pre¬mium quality – also in the compact class. Here, too, customers wish to "stand out from the crowd" through a more sophisticated, a more individual car.
We see a good potential for winning over new and, in particular, younger target groups with the BMW 1 Series. Above all, we are looking at young people successful in their careers right from the start and with a correspondingly large purchasing potential. Particularly customers of this kind show growing demand for versatile, sophisticated and sporting cars – cars which quite simply stand out from the rest.
The new BMW 1 Series has already been in the market here in Europe and in Asia for a few days. And in 2007 we will be entering the US market with a further variant of the 1 Series.
The second BMW making its motor show debut here in Paris is our new M5, a sports car perfectly suited for everyday motoring. The new model we are presenting to you today is indeed the fourth generation of this high-performance sedan. It is fair to say that we ourselves established this segment back in 1984 – and ever since the BMW M5 has consistently developed to an increasing standard, with one feature nevertheless remaining unchanged in the process: the sheer fun of driving this very special car.
Throughout the lifecycle of the former M5 we delivered approximately 20,000 units to customers – and we are most confident that, again throughout its lifecycle, this new generation of the M5 will outperform that figure once again.
Introducing these new products here in Paris – the new M5 and, in particular, the new BMW 1 Series – we are once again giving a clear face and a strong profile to the BMW brand. With its three brands Rolls-Royce, BMW, and MINI, the BMW Group as a whole offers the largest and most comprehensive premium product range throughout the entire automotive industry.
Finally, let's take a look at the current retail figures of the BMW Group: August has been very good indeed and our latest extrapolations for September are most promising.
While, understandably, we do not yet have the final figures for the first nine months of this year, we believe that in this period customer deliveries in our Automobiles Segment have increased by more than 8 per cent to a total of more than 880,000 units.
France, accounting for more than 42,700 BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce customer deliveries last year, was our sixth-largest single market worldwide. With the overall French market showing a decline this year by 2 per cent, we are more than 9 per cent over the last year in September year-to-date.
The BMW brand has maintained its strength in the market, with customer deliveries by September outperforming the previous year's figure by more than 9 per cent worldwide. In all, we will be delivering more than 740,000 BMW brand cars to customers in the first nine months of this year.
MINI is also maintaining its successful development: In this case customer deliveries will amount to approximately 140,000 units by the end of this month, placing MINI more than 3 per cent above its nine month figures last year.
We are very satisfied with Rolls-Royce, where customer deliveries in the first nine months of this year will be in the region of 500 units of this most exclusive marque. This means that in these nine months alone we have already sold far more Rolls-Royces than throughout the whole of last year.
Looking at these latest extrapolations, I restate that the BMW Group anticipates new records in retail, revenues and profits for the overall 2004 year of business. 2004 will be another record year for the BMW Group!
A particular strength contributing significantly to the success of our products is our undeniable competence in engine technology.
The innovations and new developments we have to offer specifically in this area will now be presented to you by my colleague Burkhard Göschel. And let me state here and now that he has brought along a genuine surprise you will be thrilled to see!
I thank you for your attention and wish you all a successful and good time here at the Paris Motor Show.