Helmut Panke, designated CEO of luxury German carmaker BMW AG is seen prior to the annual news conference in Munich March 19, 2002. BMW said on Tuesday its concentration on high margin niches meant it was confident this year of improving its record 2001 profit, unit sales and revenue. BMW posted a 59.5 percent rise in pre-tax profit to 3.242 billion euros last year on sales of 38.billion euros.