Europe might be embroiled by economic woes following the costly bailout of Greece and fears about other debt-squeezed countries in the bloc, but the currency's weakness spurs expectations that Mercedes-Benz and BMW will fairly soon be reaping record profit margins again - just months after emerging from the worst industry downturn in decades.

Daimler's core Mercedes-Benz division targets a 10% return-on-sales in the second-half of 2012 and through 2013, which not too long ago seemed wildly optimistic amid concerns that a crucial customer group -- rich Anglo-Saxon car buyers opting for souped-up, top-of-the line vehicles -- might not return anytime soon after being battered by the financialcrisis. BMW, the world's best-selling premium automaker ahead of the Mercedes-Benz brand, just recently reiterated its target of between 8% and 10% return on sales for its auto operations in 2012.

There is no lack of headwinds for premium automakers these days. Consumers are shifting increasingly towards smaller, less profitable vehicles and hefty investments for green technology to comply with tightening emission regulations worldwide.

But China is coming to the rescue by actively transforming itself into the new economic center of gravity. The suspicious silence about intellectual property concerns and technology transfer to China -- in the past a rather popular issue among Western automakers -- suggests the industry has realized it has little choice other than joining the party (even if this means bringing along some goodies in the form of state-of-the-art technology).

Backed by wide-ranging economic stimulus programs, the number of affluent Chinese car buyers is skyrocketing. Profit margins there are healthy compared to other large markets as Chinese customers tend to pay in cash, which reduces the risks related to extensive leasing business.

Adding to the excitement is the weaker euro compared to the U.S. dollar and to the Chinese yuan, which is pegged to the dollar. Both Mercedes and BMW traditionally have significantexposure to currency fluctuations as they produce the vast majority of cars and components in the euro zone, but a big chunk of sales are in dollars.

So the combination of a recovering U.S. market and booming demand in China not only results in a huge tailwind in terms of sales volumes, but the favorablecurrency development provides an additional boost for profit expectations.

The extremelyconservativeearningsguidancepolicy in recent years suggests that both Daimler and BMW might surpass their full-year targets, just one year after looking into the abyss.

Christoph Rauwald

• costly [´kɔstli] a.昂贵的；费用大的 (初中英语单词)
• greece [gri:s] n.希腊 (初中英语单词)
• weakness [´wi:knis] n.虚弱；弱点，缺点 (初中英语单词)
• customer [´kʌstəmə] n.顾客，买主，主顾 (初中英语单词)
• anytime [´enitaim] ad.无论什么时候 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• transfer [træns´fə:] v.&n.迁移；调动；转让 (初中英语单词)
• western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi] a.健康的 (初中英语单词)
• extensive [ik´stensiv] a.广阔的；大量的 (初中英语单词)
• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)
• combination [,kɔmbi´neiʃən] n.结合；联合；团体 (初中英语单词)
• favorable [´feivərəbəl] a.赞成的；顺利的 (初中英语单词)
• additional [ə´diʃənəl] a.附加的，额外的 (初中英语单词)
• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• profitable [´prɔfitəbəl] a.有益的；有用的 (高中英语单词)
• gravity [´græviti] n.严肃；严重；重力 (高中英语单词)
• suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)
• intellectual [,inti´lektʃuəl] n.知识分子 (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• exposure [ik´spəuʒə] n.暴露；曝光(时间) (高中英语单词)
• currency [´kʌrənsi] n.通货；通用；货币 (高中英语单词)
• conservative [kən´sə:vətiv] a.保守的 n.保守者 (高中英语单词)
• surpass [sə´pɑ:s] vt.超过，胜过 (高中英语单词)
• premium [´pri:miəm] n.奖励；奖金；保险费 (英语四级单词)
• increasingly [in´kri:siŋli] ad.日益，愈加 (英语四级单词)
• comply [kəm´plai] vi.照做 (英语四级单词)
• actively [´æktivli] ad.活跃地，积极地 (英语四级单词)
• stimulus [´stimjuləs] n.刺激(物)；促进因素 (英语四级单词)
• guidance [´gaidəns] n.向导，指导，领导 (英语四级单词)
• policy [´pɔlisi] n.政策；权谋；保险单 (英语四级单词)
• anglo-saxon [,æŋgləu ´sæksən] n.盎格鲁撒克逊人 (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)