Audi, BMW say sales drops eased in August

FRANKFURT: Sales of high-end Audi and BMW cars slipped in August but by less than during the depths of the global economic crisis, figures released on Tuesday by the German auto manufacturers showed.

BMW posted a drop of 9.7 per cent from the same month a year earlier at 91,790 vehicles.

The group's fall in sales has therefore slowed, a statement said.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we will get back onto a growth track in the coming months," sales director Ian Robertson was also quoted as saying.

At Audi, a unit of auto giant Volkswagen, sales failed to post a third straight month of increases but were nonetheless better than rivals with a drop of just 2.7 per cent to 65,900 vehicles.

Since January, Audi sales have fallen by 7.5 per cent on an annual basis to around 617,000 autos, while BMW sales have shed 17.7 per cent to 817,200 vehicles.

BMW is the best selling luxury car worldwide, but expensive autos have not benefited from various government auto scrapping premiums as much as small cars.

Audi maintained its sales target of 900,000 cars this year however, and both companies stressed improved results in China.

BMW sales leapt there by 63 per cent to around 9,000 vehicles in August, while Audi sold 35 per cent more cars with a total of more than 13,300.