BMW's profit hits new record in the first half

German car producer BMW Group announces here on Tuesday that its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) hits a new record in the first half year, exceeding 5 billion euros (about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars) for the first time.

According to the Bavarian company, its EBIT rose by 7.5 percent to 5,046 million euros compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the group revenues for the six-month period climbed by 17.6 percent to 44,852 million euros, with currency factors partially fueling the increase, according to BMW.

"We remain firmly on track, achieving our best figures to date in terms of sales volume, revenues and earnings," said Harald Krueger, chairman of the board of management.

"We remain committed to achieving an evenly balanced distribution of worldwide sales and maintaining the flexibility to react appropriately to developments on individual markets," he added.

When talking about the situation in China, BMW's CFO Friedrich Eichiner said that the company has been paying attention to the normalization of the Chinese automobile market for some time.

"In the medium and long term, however, we remain utterly convinced of its potential for growth, given the comparatively low rate of vehicle ownership, the country's well-developed infrastructure and the strong affinity of the fast-growing middle class for brands," he noted.

A total of 1,099,748 vehicles were earlier reported to have been delivered in the first half of the year, up by 7.8 percent year on year, marking the best six-month sales of BMW. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars)