BMW gets off to roaring start in 2014

FRANKFURT, May 6 (AFP) : German top-of-the-range carmaker BMW said Tuesday it got off to a strong start in 2014 with earnings and revenues rising in the first three months.
"BMW has made a strong start to the current financial year with new record first-quarter figures for sales volume and profit before tax," said chief executive Norbert Reithofer. First-quarter net profit climbed by 11.4 per cent to 1.462 billion euros ($2.0 billion).
Underlying or operating profit was up 2.6 per cent at 2.09 billion euros and revenues rose by 3.9 per cent to 18.235 billion euros. Unit sales advanced by 8.7 per cent to 487,024 vehicles worldwide.
"Based on its strong performance in the first quarter, the BMW group reaffirms its outlook for 2014," the company said.