BMW sees profit in '09 despite credit crisis

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, predicts a profit for 2009 even as a recession looms in Europe and General Motors Corp said the US market is the worst since World War II.

"We're expecting to be profitable next year; that's the goal," Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said in an interview at the Los Angeles auto show.

BMW has responded to the current economic decline by scaling back manufacturing, cutting jobs and seeking concessions from labor unions.