(Adds more executive comments)
By Christoph Rauwald Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- BMW AG (BMW.XE) executive board member Ian Robertson said Sunday the German premium automaker is keeping up its U.S. investment plans despite the current market downturn as he expects the U.S. to remain the world's largest market for premium auto makers in coming years.
"We will continue to invest here ... We're stepping up investments when others scale back," Robertson told reporters during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
BMW is currently investing $1 billion in its U.S. production and sales operations and the expansion of its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
He noted, however, that the first half of this year is set to remain rough for global automakers, with some markets probably showing signs of a recovery in the second half of the year.
"We are confident that we will outperform the overall premium segment again in 2009. Our aim is to maintain or even expand our share in the global premium segment," Robertson said.
On Friday, BMW said global sales in 2008 were down 4.3% on the year at 1.44 million cars, but it's core BMW brand retained the crown as the world's best-selling premium brand even as sales were down 5.8% to 1.2 million vehicles last year.
Global automakers have been suffering from weak consumer confidence in recent months as customers shied away from big-ticket purchases amid the financial crisis.
BMW was hit especially hard by the U.S. market downturn last year and saw sales there fall 15% to 249,113 vehicles. The U.S. is BMW's single biggest market, ahead of its German home turf.
Last year, BMW announced plans to overhaul its U.S. strategy in order to focus on profitability rather than sales volume after higher risk provisions and allowances for residual value risks and bad debts relating to its financial services business ate into earnings in recent quarters. "We won't necessarily chase volume," Robertson confirmed.
However, BMW's compact Mini brand posted a new U.S. sales record in 2008. Last year, Mini posted a 29% sales rise to 54,077 cars in the U.S., making it the brand's largest single market for the first time. The brand was launched in the world's biggest auto market in 2002.
In Detroit, the company is presenting the revamped four-seat Mini Cabrio, an electric Mini version and the new generation BMW Z4 roadster, which now features a foldable metal roof.
Company Web site: www.bmw.com
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com
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Publié le 11 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones