(Adds executive comments, background, detail)
By Christiaan Hetzner
MUNICH, June 24 (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker BMW AG expects the launch of its new 1-series compact to add sales of at least 100,000 vehicles in 2005, the company said on Wednesday, setting a record group sales target.
During the premiere presentation of its new hatchback, BMW's head of sales and marketing, Michael Ganal, reaffirmed the goal of record group deliveries in 2004.
When asked whether the growth would continue into the next year, he said, "That's how it should be".
The company sold 1.1 million cars last year and wants to boost this figure to 1.4 million by 2008.
Although Ganal was confident BMW had produced another hit with the 1-series, due to enter showrooms on September 18, he cautioned not to expect sales of as much as 50,000 units already this year, half of its eventual full-year target.
BMW is reaping the benefits of the largest product offensive in the company's history, entering into three new segments this year alone with the launch of the 6-series luxury coupe, the X3 compact off-roader and its 1-series hatchback.
"Both (sales of the 6-series and the X3) are developing better than planned, and we're quite confident that the 1-series will also do so," said Ganal, a BMW management board member.
The 1-series will compete directly against premium compacts -- such as the Audi A3 sportback, the Alfa Romeo 147 and the Mercedes A-class -- which comprise only about six percent of all compact cars sold worldwide.
BMW has designed its sporty hatchback to attract a new and much younger set of customers to the brand, who so far have not been able to find compact cars that fulfil their desires for individuality.
"We want to attract these new consumer groups to the BMW brand and create long-term brand loyalty," he said.
US LAUNCH IN FIVE YEARS
Part of the allure rests in its powertrain, which offers the only rear-wheel-drive compact in the world. This allows the hatchback to distribute its weight equally between both axles and provides an agile and sporty drive.
The carmaker expects its new 1-series to profit from industry forecasts for growth of 50 percent in premium compact sales by 2010, compared with the 20 percent expected for the segment overall.
"Our BMW 1-series will respond to this increasing demand," Ganal said. "There is plenty of growth potential."
BMW aims to offer the car in the U.S. within the next five years, but not in its current four-cylinder, hatchback version.
The 1-series, built in Regensburg and sharing an undisclosed portion of components with the 3-series, starts at 19,800 euros ($24,030) for the base 116i model, propelled by a 115-horse-power petrol motor.
Dismissing speculation that the model was priced too high for this highly competitive segment, Ganal said, "From what I read and hear, we haven't priced it wrong, so we won't have to adjust it later on."
Sales of Volkwagen's flagship Golf V hatchback started to meet expectations only after the company threw in free air conditioning as an incentive a few months after its launch.
Ganal also said that global car sales for its core BMW brand would grow by some 13 percent or more in June.
"In the month of May, BMW sales actually grew by close to 13 percent," he said. "And in June we won't fall under this mark."
Last month the Munich-based auto company sold 90,268 of its BMW brand cars, a gain of 12.9 percent. Total group sales including deliveries of its Mini and Rolls Royce brands rose 11.9 percent to 105,655 units.
By comparison, global sales of rival DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes brand luxury cars sank 9.2 percent in May as the carmaker suffers from an increasingly aging product range.