[jennyt71]

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Business



July 7, 2008, 9:06AM
BMW reports record-setting first half, but slow June


Associated Press


FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker BMW said today its global sales fell 2.8 percent last month of June because of "difficult economic trends," but had record sales for the first half of the year.

The Munich-based carmaker said in a statement sales of its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands increased by 4.7 percent in the first six months of the year to 764,874 vehicles sold compared with the 730,285 cars sold from January-June 2007.

Despite the record-setting half-year performance, BMW said that it was unable to "avoid the difficult economic trends in important individual markets such as the USA and Japan" resulting in a drop in June sales.

The automaker said global sales last month slipped 2.8 percent with 146,138 cars sold compared with 150,308 a year ago.

BMW — which stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works — said deliveries of the BMW brand rose 2.4 percent from January-June with 637,569 vehicles sold compared with 622,415 a year ago.

Its Mini brand sales continued rising, up nearly 18 percent in the first half of the year to 126,810 cars. In June, monthly Mini sales were up 8 percent.

The Rolls-Royce brand sold 495 cars in the first six months of the year compared with 294 in the first six months of 2007, a 68 percent jump. June sales were up 56 percent.

Shares of BMW rose 1.5 percent to 24.33 euros ($37.95) in midday trading in Frankfurt.