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BMW and Audi report October sales spike in China

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
BMW and Audi report October sales spike in China
Photo: DPA

The German rival car makers BMW and Audi said on Monday that sales rose in October, with a particular leap in the Chinese market.

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Deliveries of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce autos rose by two percent from the level in October last year to 113,011 units, after showing a 12-month increase in September for the first time in a year, the company said.

BMW’s Chinese sales leapt by 81 percent in October to 9,558 units, a statement said, and emerging markets in general have already reported more sales than in all of 2008, it added.

For the rest of the world, "we expect more solid progression in November and December," BMW sales director Ian Robertson was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile Audi, a premium brand of the Volkswagen group, said that October sales gained 0.4 percent to 82,750 units, also aided by soaring demand in China.

Audi forecast overall 2009 sales of 925,000 cars, well above its initial target of 900,000.

"Our sales figures worldwide have developed much better than expected," Audi sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said in a statement. "The Audi Q5 is emerging as one of our most successful models," he added.

On a 10-month basis however, overall group sales still showed a decline of 14 percent from the same period in 2008, and the company expects full-year sales to be 10-15 percent lower than in 2008.

But luxury cars are nonetheless beginning to move off of dealers' lots after missing out on government car-scrapping schemes that mainly boosted sales of small cars.

Last week, BMW's German rival Daimler said sales of its Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars had gained 4.1 percent on an annual basis.

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