BMW Pleads for Patience as Mercedes Counterattack Gears Up
- Automaker sees ‘slight’ earnings growth after strong quarter
- CEO bets future on higher-end models, self-driving iNext
A BMW logo sits on a wheel hub of a BMW 7-Series automobile, manufactured by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, inside the BMW world showroom in Munich, Germany, on Thursday, June 11, 2015. BMW's top-of-the-line model, which was shown to the public for the first time yesterday, will be the first series production car capable of responding to hand gestures such as waving to reject an incoming phone call.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergBMW AG is pleading for patience as it invests in beating back Mercedes-Benz, promising a deluge of new models and a future of electric robocars.
While the costs of revamping BMW’s aged lineup and developing future technologies are weighing on profits now, the Munich-based carmaker is prioritizing the long-term race to win over a new generation of customers, according to the company’s first-quarter financial report on Thursday.