STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) - German sports carmaker Porsche said its full-year pretax profit will breach the one billion euro (1.23 billion dollar) level for the first time in its history, thanks to strong demand in particular for its Cayenne SUV model.
"We will surpass the billion euro pretax profit level -- thanks to our consistent growth, strong cost management, and ongoing efficiency improvements," Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking said in a statement.
"We can, however, only give details on earnings once the supervisory board has established them in November," Wiedeking said.
The company added that it expects "further growth" in its current business year ending July 31, 2005.
In its business year to July 31, 2004, Porsche said sales rose 13.9 percent to about 6.35 billion euros on unit sales rising 15 percent to 76,827. Production rose 11.3 percent to 81,531 units.
Porsche nearly doubled sales of its Cayenne -- 39,913 sports utility vehicles were sold in comparison to 20,603 a year ago -- as the company continued the model's launch in different markets. Sales of its sports cars 911 and Boxster models fell 20.6 percent to 36,692.
Model 911 sales fell 14.7 percent to 23,704 units, while sales of the Boxster fell 29.5 percent to 12,988.
Porsche will unveil its latest version of the Boxster at the Paris motor show Wednesday, which will help drive sales in the current business year.
Porsche added the newly launched versions of the 911 in July are enjoying very strong demand.
"Porsche is notably confident for the current business year, regardless of the economic imponderables," the company said.