Report

BMW reports record profit margin, but Audi's is better

It reported a record profit margin, but BMW still wasn't as profitable as its rival Audi. According to a report in Automotive News, BMW booked an 11.8-percent profit margin, up from eight percent last year. Audi, however, managed 12.1 percent.

Both figures were calculated using the earnings before interest and tax method (EBIT).

Audi and BMW have had a blossoming rivalry since Audi began directly targeting BMW, both in the development of its products and in its advertising. The two ultra-competitive German luxury brands most famously clashed in a series of billboard ads in Southern California.

Analysts had forecast an 11.9-percent profit margin for BMW, according to AN. Despite this "mild disappointment," as one analyst called it, BMW still led Audi and Mercedes-Benz as the top-selling luxury brand in 2011.

The company expects to set another annual sales record this year, besting the 1.67 million units it moved in 2011, thanks largely to it's new-for-2012 F30 3-Series.

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