BMW chief resigns

December 4, 2001 Posted: 1606 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- BMW Group's Chief Executive Officer, Joachim Milberg, is stepping down after almost  three years at the helm of the German luxury carmaker.

Milberg will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Helmut Panke when his resignation takes effect at the company's annual general meeting in May.

During his tenure as CEO, Milberg has overseen a number of changes at BMW that have helped improve sales and profits. Among the initiatives, was the launch of the new Mini car.

"The personal decision taken by Joachin Milberg comes at a time of successful reorganisation of the BMW Group," Supervisory Board Chairman Volker Doppelfeld said in a statement.  

Milberg became CEO in February 1999 after Bernd Pischetsrieder was ousted from the position over his handling of the sale of BMW's loss-making Rover unit. Pischetsrieder is now CEO of fellow German car maker Volkswagen.

BMW sold more than 750,000 vehicles in the first 10 months of this year, up 9.8 percent for the same period in 2000. The company said 10,500 of its Mini cars have been sold since it launched the model in the summer.

The company expects earnings this year to surpass last year, when it posted pre-tax profits of  $1.48 billion.

In late trading on Tuesday shares in BMW were trading up 1.8 percent at 37.22 ($33).