FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) -- German luxury car maker BMW AG said Tuesday that pretax profit in 2010 is poised to rise stronger than anticipated so far, and lifted its vehicle sales guidance for this year.

“Improved business conditions on the international automobile markets mean that the BMW Group now expects to report much better second-quarter and full-year earnings than previously forecast,” the Munich-based firm said in a statement.
BMW now expects vehicle sales to rise by around 10% year-on-year to more than 1.4 million cars, after previously forecasting a rise in the single-digit percentage range to more than 1.3 million cars.
BMW expects the full-year margin on earnings before interest and tax, or Ebit, to exceed 5% in its core automobiles segment this year.
“As a result of attractive market conditions and a less acute risk situation, the Financial Services segment is striving for a significant increase in pretax earnings with a target return on equity of over 18%,” BMW said.