BMW BOARD WINS SHAREHOLDERS' SUPPORT

Senior managers of the German car manufacturer BMW have won a vote of confidence at the company's Annual General Meeting in Munich.

Some small shareholders had called for resignations following billions of dollars of losses at the company's British subsidiary, Rover, which was sold for a token sum last week.

But the overwhelming majority of investors were swayed by a speech from BMW's chairman Professor Joachim Milberg who blamed Rover's misfortunes on the strength of the British pound against the single European currency, the Euro.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service