BMW says its '09 sales may only fall 10-15%

BMW posted its first year-on-year volume gain this year in September and forecast this would become a trend during the rest of 2009 thanks to new model launches and barring any unforeseeable shocks.

In a statement on Wednesday, BMW said sales volume might in fact drop by only 10-15 percent -- a key forecast since finance chief Friedrich Eichiner had said in mid-September that there was a good chance the group could post a profit in 2009 if volumes were not worse than that level.

The German carmaker said unit sales grew 0.7 percent in September to 122,354 vehicles, driven by a near 10 percent gain at its Mini brand.

"Provided there are no economic setbacks, we should continue to make gains throughout the remaining months of the year -- not least thanks to the new BMW models X1 and 5 Series Gran Turismo, which will join our model range in late October," group sales chief Ian Robertson said.

"There is a good chance that we will end this year with a moderate decrease in sales of only 10 to 15 percent from 2008 levels, despite difficult economic conditions overall," he continued.

In the first nine months, group volumes fell 15.7 percent to 939,554 vehicles following double-digit declines in both its BMW and Mini brands.