BMW's sales crown scrutinised as profits shrink

Frankfurt - For years, record sales of high-performance sports cars meant big profits at BMW that could fund incentives and investment in technology to meet the EU's fuel efficiency rules.

But sales of competitors such as Audi have caught up and profits are shrinking. With BMW's final fourth-quarter earnings out on Wednesday, some in the industry are wondering if the old "sales grow, profits look after themselves" formula no longer works.

Preliminary results show that margins at BMW's auto division have fallen to their lowest in nearly five years, the latest sign that the sales crown title it has successfully defended for almost a decade is increasingly costly.