New jobs at BMW

BMW will increase its German workforce by 5,000 full-time employees this year to boost production and keep up with better-than-expected demand for compact vehicles, the luxury carmaker said Tuesday.

The statement was made by Manfred Schoch, deputy chairman of the company's supervisory board, in an interview with the German newspaper Münchener Merkur. A company spokesperson refused to confirm the number, but he did say it would be in the thousands.

The announcement came as BMW also said it had increased its year-on-year sales in January this year by 6 percent, moving 124,561 new vehicles.

Despite the accelerated sales, the firm still took a back seat to rivals Audi and Mercedes that month. Audi's monthly sales in January jumped 10 percent to 137,700 units, while Mercedes sold 125,865 vehicles, a 14 percent increase.

Audi and Mercedes are looking to overtake BMW as the world's leading luxury carmaker. A month after BMW announced 2014 was its best sales year to date, Daimler, which owns Mercedes, made public plans to aggressively expand its foothold in China to catch up with its competitors.

Out front for now

BMW maintained its top position after including the sales of its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. Total deliveries of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars in January leapt 7 percent in January to 142,154 due to strong European demand and a 41 percent rise in sales of its X5 offroader, the company said.

In Europe, BMW's sales were up 8.5 percent, outpacing growth in the United States and China, where the carmaker respectively logged 6.8 percent and 7.9 percent growth.

"This is a positive start, building on the success of last year," said Ian Robertson, BMW's board member responsible for sales and marketing.

sri/cjc (dpa, Reuters, AFP)