BMW chairman Helmut Panke announced in Singapore last weekend that BMW has become profitable in the Chinese market after just three years of operations, the Beijing Times reports. Panke said that sales rose 37.4% last year to 31,600 vehicles. Panke did not reveal specific profit figures, but said that the brand, its product, pricing policy, and sales and service network had been fully deployed, bringing the company profit in China. Panke estimated that growth through 2008 would put Chinese annual sales at 50,000 vehicles, or 1/3 of the Asian market. The announcement of success follows speculation in 2004 after poor BMW sales as to whether luxury cars had a future in China.Link: http://bjt.net.cn/news.asp?newsid=138658