MUNICH, May 16 - Luxury German carmaker BMW AG <BMWG.DE> marked the departure of Chief Executive Joachim Milberg on Thursday by saying it would beat its 2002 sales target for the new Mini model by a fifth.
Milberg, handing over to successor Helmut Panke at BMW's annual shareholders' meeting in Munich, said the firm would sell 15-20 percent more Minis than the 100,000 cars it had planned.
He leaves BMW in good shape, having posted record results last year and with a share price near all-time highs, but he stuck to the firm's cautious outlook for this year as the auto industry battles recession in the United States and Europe.
"Assuming there is no unexpected deterioration of economic conditions, the BMW Group is confident that deliveries, sales and profits will increase even further (over 2001)," he said.
Panke, a BMW veteran who was chief financial officer under Milberg, said he would stick to his predecessor's strategy.
"It's not about reforms, we have a clear road ahead and we know where we want to go," he said. "Naturally we will also find new market segments or technological solutions and that means we will react to new market opportunities.
"The Mini is an example of this."
NO PEOPLE'S CAR
BMW under Milberg, who became chief executive in 1999, has stuck to a luxury-only strategy which to date has proved more resilient than others to economic downturn.
"The international automotive industry is currently characterised more by the individual performance of specific manufacturers and not so much by all-round development in the industry as a whole," he said, adding he believed that demand for BMW's premium brands would increase.
The Mini -- the only part of British carmaker Rover which Milberg kept when he sold off Rover for a token 10 pounds in 2000 -- had been seen as a new departure for the firm, since small cars tend to have smaller margins than big limousines.
"We are now looking to increase (Mini) production by 15-20 percent, and naturally we will be selling these cars," he said. "This reflects the great demand for the Mini."
BMW says it will make healthy returns from the Mini, which is priced above its peers. The firm will introduce a turbo-charged Mini Cooper S later this year and a diesel version, with a Toyota <7203.T> engine, next year.
Milberg also welcomed the end of Germany's first major strike in seven years, which had hit rival carmakers like DaimlerChrysler AG <DCXGn.DE> and Porsche <PHSG_p.DE> and had threatened to spread south to BMW's Bavarian heartland.
"The important thing is that a solution has been found, the labour dispute has now hopefully reached its end," he said. The four percent pay rise agreed with the IG Metall engineering union was at "at the upper limit" of the acceptable, he said.
"We'll have to see what effect it has on the economy and the labour market," he added, but welcomed its 22-month duration which would help the firm's long-term planning.
Shares in the firm traded up 0.71 percent at 46.45 euros by 1258 GMT in a flat European auto sector
