BMW's cars are proving ever more popular
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BMW's quarterly sales have hit a fresh all-time high, helping the German carmaker to record profits.
Unveiling its results for the first three months of 2006, BMW said it sold 332,923 cars, up 12% on a year earlier.
Pre-tax profits for the first quarter jumped 58% from the 2005 figure to 1.3bn euros ($1.6bn; £894m).
The performance was ahead of forecasts both with and without the boost from BMW's sale of shares in UK aircraft engine firm Rolls-Royce.
Excluding the 375m euro one-off gain from the Rolls-Royce sale, BMW's profits for the quarter were up 12%.
'Best year'
Looking ahead, BMW raised its profits target for 2006 as a whole.
It now estimates that annual pre-tax profits will reach a record 4bn euros on all-time high sales.
"We are thus heading for the best year in our corporate history," said BMW chairman Helmut Panke.
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