BMW 2005 Annual Report Download - page 6

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Once again, the Supervisory Board focused its
attention in 2005 on the Board of Management’s
activities aimed at the premium segments of the
automobile markets. Thanks to upfront investments
made in previous years and the current sales volume
performance, the BMW Group has further strength-
ened its financial position and market presence.The
Supervisory Board fully supports the decision taken
by the Board of Management to press on with the
product offensive by introducing two new and stand -
alone model series, thus enhancing the Group’s
market position and enabling it to exploit further
growth and earnings potential and to increase the
value of the business.
The Supervisory Board also followed the introduc-
tion of the new BMW 3 Series in 2005 with great
interest and concluded that the model change of the
bestselling BMW model series had been executed
successfully. The Supervisory Board took apprecia-
tive note of sales volume figures achieved in 2005
by the new model series introduced in 2004, namely
the BMW X3, BMW 1 Series, BMW 6 Series and
MINI Cabrio, all of which were available on the mar-
kets for their first full year. The success enjoyed by
these new models and the sharp increase in unit
sales overall by the BMW Group are, in the eyes of
the Supervisory Board, clear evidence of the future
viability of the strategy pursued by the Board of
Management with the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce
brands.
The Board of Management also reported to the
Supervisory Board on the overall positive perform-
ance of the Motorcycles segment on the back of
its product offensive initiated in 2004.
The Supervisory Board was informed in advance of
the plan to develop a hybrid engine jointly with
DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors Corporation.
The two boards also debated the further expansion
of the BMW Group’s market presence, including,
for example, the establishment of a production and
sales company in India.
Written and oral reports provided by the Board of
Management also enabled the Supervisory Board
to keep abreast of competitors’ activities in the main
markets, the development of raw material prices,
the exchange rate of the euro against the US dollar
and other major currencies, the currency manage-
ment strategies applied by the BMW Group and the
impact of all of these factors on business develop-
ment.
The Supervisory Board fully endorsed the proposal
put forward to the shareholders at the Annual
General Meeting 2005 to authorise the Board of
Management to buy back treasury shares and with-
draw them from circulation, thus underlining the
fact that the enterprise is also geared to shareholder
interests.
The Supervisory Board obtained information about
the impact of global demographic changes on the
BMW Group, in particular in Germany and, together
with the Board of Management, deliberated on ways
of moving forward with its employee and product-
related policies.
One meeting of the Supervisory Board was held
at the site of the new BMW plant in Leipzig, where
the Supervisory Board was also able to gain an
impression of the successful production start-up
of the new BMW 3 Series.
At its meeting in December 2005, the Supervisory
Board considered at length the BMW Group’s long-
term business plan and approved it along with the
annual budget for the financial year 2006.