BMW off to Roaring Start in 1Q

BMW Financial Services announced a 2.3% increase in finance deals during the first three months of the year, totaling 348,072 new lease and credit financing contracts extended to retail customers. The finance arm generated profit before tax of €460 million ($626 million) based upon revenues of €4.9 billion ($6.7 billion) in the first quarter, up 3.3% and 1.2%, respectively, from the same period last year.

BMW Group also announced record sales volumes for the first quarter, up 8.7% year over year, to 487,024 vehicles sold. Record-breaking sales were seen in the company’s motorcycle segment as well, with 28,719 BMW motorcycles sold in the quarter, up 16.1% from 1Q13. In a statement accompanying its first-quarter results, the company expressed itself “confident that the BMW Group will grow profitably again in 2014.”

“In view of the substantial volume of capital expenditure planned, we expect return on equity for the automotive segment to be significantly down, and ROE for the financial services segment to be slightly lower than in the preceding financial year,” according to the release. “Both performance indicators will be nevertheless higher than their long-term targets of 26% and 18%, respectively.”