BMW, Daimler see sales improvements

FRANKFURT - Germany's BMW AG reported Wednesday a slight increase in sales for September, while rival Daimler AG said its core car division had its best month this year — suggesting demand in the auto market is beginning to recover.

BMW said it sold 122,354 cars worldwide last month compared with 121,492 in September 2008 — an increase of less than 1 percent.

"For the first time this year, we were able to increase our sales volume slightly in September," BMW sales and marketing official Ian Robertson said. "Provided there are no economic setbacks, we should continue to make gains throughout the remaining months of the year."

Daimler said sales at its Mercedes-Benz Cars division were down 7 percent to 114,300 from the previous September's 122,200, but noted that was the unit's highest monthly sales so far this year.

The Mercedes-Benz brand's sales declined 5 percent to 104,900 from 110,700. Sales of the compact Smart brand were down 18 percent to 9,400.

On the whole, "we observed a positive sales trend in September," Daimler sales and marketing official Joachim Schmidt said, crediting a 64 percent increase in world sales of the new Mercedes E-Class sedan for the improvement.

Stuttgart-based Daimler said it was helped by strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region — particularly China — and stabilizing sales in Western Europe and the United States.

Despite its own sales improvement, Munich-based BMW's Robertson cautioned that there "there is a good chance" his company will report a 10 to 15 percent sales decline for the full year.

Over the January-September period, the BMW group saw sales drop 16 percent from the previous year to 777,455 cars.

September sales at the core BMW brand were down 1.2 percent on the year at 97,545 cars. However, its performance was helped by strong increases in sales of the Z4 roadster and of 7 Series limousines.

The Mini brand saw sales increase 9.5 percent to 24,759 cars — helped by the convertible Mini, which has been on the market since March.

However, the Rolls-Royce brand saw sales fall to 50 cars from 129 in September 2008, a 61.2 percent decline.

Robertson said final preparations for the new Rolls Royce Ghost are well under way and that the order intake is very encouraging. The company is expected to release the car next year.

BMW motorcycles saw September sales fall 1.1 percent to 7,715 bikes. Motorcycle sales declined 13 percent in the first nine months.

Cash-for-clunkers incentive programs are expected to be wound up in many countries by the end of the year — though those programs largely benefited makers of smaller cars. In Germany, the program closed in September.

Shares of BMW were down about 2 percent at €31.70 ($46.59), while shares of Daimler were down 1.2 percent at €33.33 in Frankfurt trading.