* To reach sales target four years earlier than 2020 plan
* Sees 2012 automobiles EBIT margin at upper end of 8-10 pct
* Wants to expands reach into China and BRIKT markets
* Extensive talks with Brazil, Russia over policies (Adds comments from management board)
By Christiaan Hetzner
MUNICH, March 13 (Reuters) - BMW, the world's biggest-selling premium auto maker, brought forward its long-term target by four years to reflect robust emerging markets, intensifying rivalry with its more profitable peer Audi.
BMW on Tuesday said sales would surpass 2 million vehicles in 2016 instead of an earlier goal of 2020, including its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, without profitability suffering.
VW's Audi also pulled forward its volume target earlier this month, saying it planned to achieve sales of 1.5 million vehicles before 2015.
Both carmakers are benefiting from strong demand for luxury cars in emerging economies such as China, India and Russia.
The Volkswagen unit overtook stalwart Mercedes-Benz as the second-largest premium brand by vehicle sales last year and has surpassed BMW in terms of profitability thanks to economies of scale it enjoys with its parent, a luxury BMW does not have as an independent company.
BMW's sales forecast came as sources said Audi was in talks with the owner of Ducati over possibly purchasing the exclusive Italian motorcycle maker, a competitor to BMW's own brand of two-wheelers like the supersport S 1000 RR.
When asked whether Audi was copying the business model of BMW, management board member Klaus Draeger told Reuters: "I'll leave you to decide that for yourself."
To better achieve the same scale effects as Audi, BMW is reducing complexity to just one core family of engines, and two vehicle architectures, one each for front- and rear-wheel drive cars.
BMW's upcoming front-wheel drive architecture, for example, will be used to make small cars like the revamped Mini Cooper starting 2013 and an all-new, larger BMW brand MPV that will compete with the Mercedes B-Class starting 2014.
"We are targeting new record highs in vehicle sales and pre-tax earnings for 2012," BMW Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters at the group's annual news conference in Munich,
He said the core autos division should finish 2012 at the upper end of an 8-10 percent profit margin range, despite higher investments and expenditure to improve engine efficiency and expand its global manufacturing footprint.
To accelerate sales growth and keep Audi at bay, BMW aims to expand its reach further into emerging economies, coining the term "BRIKT" markets for Brazil, Russia, India, South Korea and Turkey.
Here car sales have soared from 8,000 annually to well over 100,000 vehicles since 2000, according to sales chief Ian Robertson, who called them the "next big developing markets" on the horizon.
BMW does not even bother including China among the list, because the country has long since advanced to one of its biggest markets. Since 2010, the company sells more cars there than in any other country except the United States and Germany.
"We are increasing our production capacity in China, the USA, South Africa and India, while at the same time evaluating potential production locations in the BRIKT markets," Reithofer said.
Production chief Frank-Peter Arndt told reporters on Tuesday BMW would have to wait for policymakers in Brazil to decide how favourable conditions will be for foreign automakers to move production to the country.
The same problems confront BMW in Russia. Arndt said he held discussions with incoming president Vladimir Putin over expanding manufacturing capacity there, either at local partner AvtoTor in Kaliningrad or possibly at its own assembly plant. (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and Erica Billingham)
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Reprints
