#Results2010

‘Tis the season when Japanese companies publish annual results. They all work on a fiscal year that runs from April 1 through March 31. Then, they need a good month to count the beans, to be ready in mid May. Suzuki was first to announce, and the announcement was good:

Volkswagen looks back at its best year in history. At a press conference today, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced a consolidated group profit before tax of €9 billion ($12.45 billion). €1.9 billion ($2.6 billion) of that is Volkswagen’s share out of their China businesses.

Luxury cars, pronounced an endangered species two years ago, are back with a vengeance and enrich their makers. After reporting record sales, BMW follows with record profits. The Bavarian Motor Works are looking at a 2010 pre-tax profit of €4.8 billion ($6.7 billion) on sales of €60 billion ($83 billion). Not bad for a company that delivered only 1,461,166 BMWs, MINIs and a few Rolls-Royces last year.