<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  2012 BMW 328i Industry pundits \u2013 acting as financial analysts \u2013 predicted dire times for European auto manufacturers in 2012 as they said the world&amp;#039;s economy, and Europe&amp;#039;s in particular, was not in good shape and car sales would be affected. Judging by the financial results for the first quarter of the year they were wrong. Just about all companies have reported good sales and even record profits. Last week, for example, the three major German companies \u2013 BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen\u2014all reported healthy profits. BMW in particular had an extremely successful start to the financial year, with a profit of $2.7 billion for a profit margin of 11.6 percent before taxes. &amp;quot;We have recorded the best first-quarter figures ever \u2014 for sales volume, revenues and earnings \u2014 in the BMW Group&amp;#039;s corporate history&amp;quot;, said Norbert Reithofer, the Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. All three car brands \u2013 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce \u2013 recorded record first quarter sales. In all 356,548 BMWs, 68,210 Minis and 770 Rolls-Royce motor cars were sold worldwide during the first there months of the year.   2013 BMW X1 The BMW Group increased first-quarter sales volumes in almost all of the world&amp;#039;s regions. Sales in Europe edged up slightly by 0.5 percent to 201,063 units. New sales volume highs were recorded in both North America and Asia. Sales in the U.S.A. rose by 16.5 percent to 75,931 units. A total of 80,218 units (+36.6 percent) were sold in China. In Japan, the number of cars sold rose by 44.4 percent to 13,994 units. BMW says the new 3 Series Sedan, which has been on the market only since February, also got off to a strong start with first-quarter sales up by 13.6 percent. It says the total number of BMW 3 Series vehicles handed over to customers during the period increased by 3.9 percent to 91,189 units. BMW expects the rest of the year to continue to be as healthy as the first quarter and is predicting record sales for the full calendar year. This, of course, was stated last week before the French general election. Some say the results of that election will make the European economy worse. Others predict it will improve. Only time will tell who is right and who is wrong. Related posts:  Ferrari Reports Record Sales in U.S. and China Audi and BMW Report Record Sales Worldwide Audi Reports Record Results at Annual Meeting  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a21782/bmws-reports-record-q1-sales-34522/>