Sean Greene, MD of BMW, says the company has orders for 2,700 new models, and already the X5 has been sold out of the 2007 allocation. Last year was a record one for the company, with over 6,000 BMWs delivered and 900 Minis sold in a change of model year for Mini.

Greene forecasts that next year will be even better because of the strength of the economy, but also because the dealer network which has invested over 40m in the past three years is now more prepared than ever to handle the levels of service that prestige car customers expect.

By March of next year the new 3 Series coupe will have a bigger engine line up with the arrival of some four-cylinder models.

But Greene also makes the point that it is not an easy trading environment. Over 70,000 secondhand cars have been imported mostly from the UK. Over 3,500 of these were used BMWs and of these around 2,200 were under five years old.

This represents a huge challenge to his dealer network but it is also an opportunity because it shows increasing in interest in the BMW marque and offered servicing opportunities.