Mini, 7-series power BMW profit

Sales of the Mini Cooper were strong

FRANKFURT, Germany (CNN) -- BMW's profit has risen by 12 percent in the second quarter of this year, boosted by strong sales of the Mini, 7-series and X-5 sports utility.

Net income for the months of April, May and June rose to 629 million euros ($614 million) from 562 million during the same period last year. Sales rose 8.9 percent to 11.6 billion euros.

The company, which ranks second in the luxury car market to its German rival DaimlerChrysler, said on Thursday it was on track to sell more than 1 million vehicles this year. BMW's focus on its luxury range has enabled it to escape the battering many mass market producers have experienced from the global economic slowdown.

BMW said sales soared 19 percent to 283,280 vehicles in the three months to June 30 amid billions of euros spent on research and development of new models.

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The company sold 34,721 Minis in the second quarter and almost double that amount in the first six months of this year. The redeveloped 1960s British icon was launched in the second half of last year. At the time, BMW expected to sell 100,000 a year but now it has boosted production targets to 120,000.

First-half sales of the 7-series, its controversially-styled flagship model, were 23,766, ahead of BMW's expectations, while sales of the X-5 sports utility vehicle rose 38 percent to 49,338.

BMW is launching a two-seater Z4 sportscar later this year to replace its Z3 model, it will offer the first BMW-made Rolls Royce from January, and it is introducing a new version of its key 5-series limousine next year. On top of next year's launches, it has a small 1-series, a larger 6-series, and a new sports utility vehicle, the X-3, on its list of 2004 launches.

Pretax profit rose 2.5 percent to 1.020 billion euros, broadly in line with expectations. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a pretax profit of 1.06 billion euros and net profit of 638 million euros on revenues of 11.696 billion euros.

"The results are slightly below consensus, which for BMW is slightly disappointing,'' Harald Hendrikse, an auto analyst at CSFB, told Reuters. He rates BMW as a "hold."

BMW's stock, which has risen 4 percent this year, edged up 0.7 percent to 39.80 euros in early Frankfurt trading on Thursday.