FRANKFURT - GERMAN luxury car maker BMW on Tuesday joined compatriot Daimler in posting dismal third quarter figures and warned there was no guarantee a recovery is underway, though strong growth was seen in China.

BMW said net profit plunged by 73.8 per cent from the third quarter of 2008 to 78 million euros (S$161 million). In the first nine months of the year, net profit lost a massive 96.4 per cent from the same period a year earlier to 47 million euros, the group said.

Despite signs of improvement, particularly in China which is now the group's largest Asian market, 'the BMW Group only expects the situation to stabilise at a low level during the last quarter of 2009', it said in a statement.

BMW forecast that full-year unit sales would be between 10-15 per cent lower than in 2008. 'For the time being at least, it cannot be assumed that an enduring recovery has taken hold,' the statement said.

Core earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were also sharply lower, shedding 85.8 per cent to 55 million euros in the three-month period, while sales edged down to 11.76 billion euros from 12.6 billion.

BMW nonetheless said that it aimed for a full year profit, following 'some early signs of recovery, particularly in August and September'. -- AFP