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.February 11, 2004
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This Week:

• Mazda Ibuki Concept Vehicle Makes North American Debut at Chicago Auto Show

• The Range Stormer: Land Rover Concept Vehicle Makes First Chicago Appearance

• Geared for Safety, the All-New 2005 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum Offer State-of-the-Industry Performance and Crash Protection

• MINI Introduces Commemorative Edition MINI COOPER S MC40

• Jaguar North America And Rocketsports Racing Unveil The Ultimate XKR At The 2004 Chicago Auto Show

• GM Names New Regional Presidents for Europe, Asia Pacific

• Volkswagen Polo GT - the new sporty, dynamic special model

• The New Mazda3 Sedan

• Subaru Introduces Third-Generation Outback(R) Models

• BMW Group: Positive Outlook For The Year

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BMW Group: Positive Outlook For The Year
 

Worldwide January sales below last year's due to production factors Munich - After setting new records several times for all its brands in recent months, the BMW Group's January sales, at 74,300 units sold, were slightly below the corresponding level in the previous year (79,960, -7.1%). This result should take into consideration that the refurbishment at the Munich plant required a break in production from Christmas 2003 to the end of January 2004. This led to a loss of production for the popular BMW 3 Series. The BMW Group is already expecting to exceed the previous year's sales figures again in the next few months. The company is also assuming that it will be reaching new sales levels for all brands for the year as a whole.

A total of 59,080 BMW brand automobiles were delivered to customers in January. This is down 8.9% compared to the same month last year (64,850). The BMW 5 Series continued last year's positive trend by recording an increase of 40.1%. Including the new home market-only Sports Wagon, 15,230 BMW 5 Series models were delivered to customers (prev.yr.: 10,870).

The new BMW X3 models and the BMW 6 Series made a very good start. Since the market launch in Europe on January 10th, 2,060 units of the X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and 610 BMW 6 Series luxury coupes have been handed over to customers.

The "big brother" of the X3, the BMW X5, was able to record another slight increase compared with the first month of the previous year: 6,840 for an increase of 0.5% more than January 2003 (6,810). The BMW Z4 roadster also continues to be very popular, with 2,030 vehicles delivered in January. Because of the aforementioned break in production, sales of the BMW 3 Series, at 29,140 units (prev.yr.: 40,980/- 28.9%) declined. The BMW 7 Series was also unable to reach the high sales level of the previous year, with 3,100 automobiles delivered (prev.yr.: 4,370/-29.1%)

Demand for MINI remains high

Sales of MINI brand automobiles have slightly increased once again in relation to the high level in the corresponding month last year. A total of 15,170 MINI One, MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S left the dealerships worldwide (prev.yr.: 15,110/+ 0.4%). A significant next step in the development of the MINI product portfolio is the market launch of the MINI Convertible in the summer of this year.

50 Rolls-Royce Phantoms handed over to customers

Rolls-Royce Motorcars served the absolute luxury segment in January by supplying 50 cars. Sales will continue to gain momentum in the course of the year, so that the year's target of 1,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom delivered to customers can be reached.

Motorcycle segment still below last year in a monthly comparison

The market landscape for the Motorcycles segment remains difficult. Deliveries to customers in January were, at 3,110 units, still 22.8% below last year's level. For the year as a whole, the company is expecting sales above last year's record levels again, driven by the product offensive that is currently ongoing in the BMW motorcycle business.

(February 6, 2004)