Audi, BMW Report Surprisingly Strong Demand in May

German carmakers BMW AG and Audi AG both said Monday that sales fell in May compared to a year earlier, but noted that the slump in the auto market was not as bad as in previous months.

Audi reported a 6 percent drop in May, to 82,800 vehicles, while BMW said its sales fell 18 percent to 109,042 vehicles. Though still a hefty drop, BMW said the figure was an improvement from earlier this year.

“Sales decreased much more slowly in May than in recent months,” Ian Robertson, a board member responsible for sales and marketing said in the company’s report.

“Overall, I am cautiously optimistic that our global sales figures will continue to improve over the course of the year.

“We were able to increase our market share in the premium segment in major markets such as the U.S. and Japan over the previous month. That puts us right on track to maintain our position as the world’s number one premium manufacturer in terms of sales volume in 2009,” he said.

The Munich-based premium carmaker said its BMW brand sold 90,643 cars last month, down 18 percent from the 110,707 sold in May 2008.

The Mini brand saw sales fall 19 percent to 18,348 cars. Sales of the super-luxury Rolls-Royce brand declined 54 percent to 51 cars for the month and BMW’s motorcycles division saw a 12 percent decline to 10,172 motorcycles.

However, BMW said its BMW Z4, a new sports coupe on the market since May 9, has seen a robust 2,365 deliveries worldwide. The 7 Series limousine, the company’s biggest sedan, sold nearly 3,400 units in May — a 1.5 percent increase. Meanwhile, the X6, an SUV-car crossover sold 3,625 units worldwide, a 109 percent improvement over May a year ago.

Audi, one of BMW’s main rivals, said that despite its 6 percent drop in total sales it is seeing leaps in demand in the Asia-Pacific region, with China racking up big gains.

The Ingolstadt-based company, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, said it sold 82,800 cars in May, compared with 88,168 a year ago.

Audi said sales in the Asia-Pacific region were 24 percent higher, with 15,650 cars sold for the month. In China, the company saw a 28 percent increase in sales to 12,435 cars. South Korea and Australia also contributed strongly to sales for the region.

Furthermore, sales increased in several European countries, including Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, lifting market share to 3.9 percent in Europe excluding Germany, compared to 3.7 percent in May a year ago.

Sales in the U.S. fell more than 12 percent for the month, but Audi added 2 percentage points to market share, bringing its portion of the premium segment to 8.8 percent.

“Demand for our A3, A4, and A5 core models is strong,” Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi’s board member responsible for sales and marketing, said in Audi’s report. The three models include two-door coupes, sedans and station wagon models.

Schwarzenbauer said the new Audi Q5 SUV is also already a success in both Europe and the U.S. and is also driving sales growth.

Shares of BMW were down about 1 percent at euro27.75 ($38.29); Audi shares were flat at euro419.46 ($578.85), while Volkswagen shares were 4.5 percent higher at euro251.81 in Frankfurt afternoon trading.

6/8/2009 8:21 AM GEORGE FREY AP Business Writer FRANKFURT