BMW 2012 Annual Report Download - page 15

15 STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
Dear Shareholders,
Your Company has once again demonstrated a strong performance with new sales volumes, revenues
and earnings highs for the 2012 financial year.
At the BMW Group, we look to the future and are prepared to go against the trend, if need be; we have
the stamina to stick to our chosen path. For us, it is always the customer who comes first – that is why we
offer innovative products and services and what makes us the world’s top-selling premium car manufacturer.
But we aim to do even better – which means continuing to grow at a profitable rate and acting in a responsible
manner as a member of society.
Our actions are based on our tradition, our values and our Company’s unique corporate culture and team
spirit. At the BMW Group, we all share a passion for mobility. It is our common purpose to make individual
mobility viable for the future, as the demands on cars continue to evolve. Our industry is in a period of transi-
tion – what we refer to as “iconic change”. We are driving and shaping this technological shift towards sus-
tainable mobility. It will require all our powers of innovation in the development of new products and attrac-
tive mobility services, as well as constant review of our structures and processes and how we work together.
2012 – the most successful year in the history of the Company. Our success is built on the desirability
of our products. More than 1.84 million BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were delivered to customers in
2012, beating the previous year’s record by more than 10 %. All three of our automobile brands set new re-
cords. In addition, more than 117,000 customers purchased a BMW or Husqvarna motorcycle. Our Financial
Services business also continued to grow and contributed to the positive performance in sales figures.
Thanks to strong demand for our premium vehicles, revenues rose to more than € 76.8 billion and profit
before tax increased to around € 7.8 billion in the 2012 financial year – both new highs for the Group. The net
profit of more than € 5.1 billion also represented a new record.
Our financial success allows us the necessary freedom to continue investing in our future. In 2012, our
research and development expenses rose to more than € 3.9 billion, mostly in connection with projects to
secure
our future growth.
Our figures for 2012 are the result of an outstanding collective performance. On behalf of the Board of
Management, I would like to thank all of our employees for their efforts, determination and achievements in
2012. I would also like to thank our retail organisation, our suppliers and our business partners, who play
such an important part in the Company’s success.
Five years of Strategy Number ONE: interim targets for 2012 fulfilled. The success of the 2012 financial
year is also the result of the long-term decisions we made as part of our Strategy Number ONE.
We presented our strategy to the public back in autumn 2007 – with a vision for the year 2020. The aim is
to prepare the BMW Group for the future, as it faces a wide range of different challenges in a changing environ-
ment for individual mobility. Specific measures were implemented in the four strategic areas of “Growth”,
“Shaping the future”, “Profitability” and “Access to technology and customers”. We also set ourselves ambitious