BMW Looks Into A Chrystal Ball At 2003

BERLIN, Dec 12, 2002; Reuters reported that the head of German luxury carmaker BMW AG <BMWG.DE> said on Thursday he expected the overall auto market in the United States to be roughly stable next year after a slight decline this year. "Currently we expect that for this year the total (U.S.) vehicles market will end up at something like 16.7-16.8 million (units) which is slightly below last year's figure," BMW Chief Executive Helmut Panke said on the sidelines of a conference in Berlin.

"For next year we see it in the same order of magnitude. Nobody knows if it will be 100,000 more or 100,000 less but we will be just below 17 million light vehicles. It will be a stable market but at a high level," he said.

With little cause for optimism in weak European markets, many of Germany's car manufacturers, which sell nearly a third of their cars in the U.S., are having to rely on exports to keep their sales steady.

BMW sold almost a quarter of its cars in the U.S. last year, and derived an even bigger proportion of its profits from the region due to favourable exchange rates and the popularity of high-margin models such as its X5 sports utility vehicle.

Most industry experts expect the world's biggest car market to contract slightly next year amid weak consumer demand and global political uncertainty.