Quotes by Helmut Panke

“If each of us would have done it on our own we would never have reached the volume needed to make it economical,”

“[But Panke acknowledged that the Minis profit margins would be lower than that of other BMW cars in its first life cycle. BMW model life cycles are generally seven years.] We will not hit our usual profitability targets in the Minis first life cycle, ... But we wont lose any money either.”

“Prices have gone up in the U.S. but for us at least we have not seen a change in buyer behavior,”

“[Not everyone is optimistic about hybrids.] Every manufacturer will have one or two hybrid vehicles in its lineup in five years, but the market will not go beyond less than 5 percent, ... But the real challenge is to reduce the fuel consumption of the standard engine. Hybrid is not a substitute for that.”

“Despite the big public debate right now, it will just be a niche technology,”

“Currency factors, high raw material prices and intense competition are all having an adverse impact.”

“The current exchange rate is an improvement, but its still a challenge for us.”

“We will proceed under our own power. We are not thinking of link-ups, stakes, takeovers. I can clearly rule out all of these alternatives.”

“The adverse external factors -- unfavorable exchange rates, high raw-material prices and intense competition -- which we reported from the very beginning of the year have been largely offset by increased sales volume and internal efficiency improvement measures.”

“We expect the BMW Group to remain on growth course in the financial year 2006. Our aim is to increase sales volume yet again and once again set a new record.”