German top-of-the-range car maker BMW said on March 13 it achieved record sales and earnings and plans to pay an increased dividend to shareholders. "With its fourth straight record year, the BMW group's strong performance continued during the past year despite a challenging economic environment world-wide," said chief executive Norbert Reithofer.
"In 2013 we achieved new highs for sales volume and profit and have thereby reached the targets we set ourselves for the full year," he boasted. BMW said its net profit rose by 4.5 percent to 5.34 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in 2013. Pre-tax profit was up 1.4 percent at 7.913 billion euros.
Revenues slipped by 1.0 percent to 76.058 billion euros, but unit sales jumped by 6.4 percent to a record 1.964 million vehicles, with all three brands - BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce - "registering all-time highs."