German luxury carmaker BMW AG plans to buy more of the parts it uses to assemble its cars in countries outside the eurozone to reduce the negative effect of a strong euro, a magazine said on Saturday.
"We will, in synchrony with the future product programme, strengthen our purchasing outside the eurozone," Chief Executive Helmut Panke said in a pre-released interview with Automobilwoche magazine to be published in its next issue. It did not give further details.
The move could help soothe fears of some investors that a weak dollar could cancel out the earnings growth BMW expects in 2004 and 2005 from the launch of new models.
Despite record sales of its cars, the company posted a 2.1 percent drop in turnover last year, weighed by negative currency effects.
Panke repeated that all three of the firm's marques - BMW, Mini and Rolls Royce - would post record unit sales this year.
"Our new orders are very encouraging and actually lie above our expectations," he said.
The firm is expecting to sell 190,000 Minis this year, which will push it to its capacity limit, Automobilwoche said.