If there were an award for last year's most profitable premium brand, it would be an unequivocal victory for Mercedes-Benz.
After cutting Chrysler loose, profits at Daimler, Mercedes' parent, have shot upward like an untethered balloon. None of its rivals could keep up.
There was a surprise in last year's results, though. Audi's profit margin topped BMW's. And Audi accomplished the feat without a financial arm of its own. Parent company Volkswagen handles the brand's leasing and financing.
BMW's comparatively bad showing demonstrates just how right CEO Norbert Reithofer has been in pursuing drastic cost reductions. Anyone who continually sells more cars without making more money is heading in the wrong direction.
BMW's results can be excused only partly by rising raw material prices. In the United States, BMW has become a victim of its own success. The weak dollar most hurts the import company selling the most in the United States.
Read Article