BMW AG on Wednesday reported a sharp jump in third-quarter net profit and lifted its profit-margin target for its auto segment amid booming demand for its large vehicles, particularly in China.

The world's best-selling luxury car maker said third-quarter net profit leaped to 871 million ($1.22 billion) from 76 million last year. BMW's third-quarter revenue rose 36% to 15.9 billion from 11.8 billion last year and its closely-watched earnings before interest and tax jumped to 1.19 billion from 55 million in 2009.

The auto maker raised the profit margin target for its car segment to more than 7% from previously more than 5%. The forecast for financial services remained unchanged with a sharp improvement in pretax profit and a return on equity of over 18%.

In 2012, BMW wants to achieve an Ebit margin of between 8% and 10% in the auto unit and a return on equity of at least 18% in the financial-services division.

The auto maker's earnings echo soaring profits reported by Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz unit and Volkswagen AG's Audi brand last week. Demand for luxury cars nosedived last year during the economic downturn, but the industry staged a faster-than-expected comeback in recent quarters, fueled by a growing number of affluent Chinese car buyers and a recovery of the U.S. market.

CHRISTOPH RAUWALD

• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• improvement [im´pru:vmənt] n.改进，改善，进步 (初中英语单词)
• achieve [ə´tʃi:v] vt.完成；达到；获得 (初中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• margin [´mɑ:dʒin] n.边缘；空白；余地 (高中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• segment [´segmənt] n.部分；段；弓形 (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)
• unchanged [ʌn´tʃeindʒd] a.不变的；依然如故的 (英语六级单词)
• equity [´ekwiti] n.公平；公正 (英语六级单词)