Volkswagen, BMW, and Porsche SE posted increases in U.S. car sales in September as new luxury models attracted buyers.
Volkswagen's U.S. deliveries rose 1.5% from a year earlier to 17,358 cars and sport-utility vehicles as a coupe- style Volkswagen Passat CC model and a sports-car version of the Volkswagen Jetta went on sale and demand for the VW Routan minivan doubled, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker said. Sales by BMW, the world's largest luxury automaker, increased 3.6% to 19,175 vehicles.
“For now, we'll take this first small bit of good news but the premium segment is not out of the woods yet,” Jim O'Donnell, head of Munich-based BMW's North American division, said in a statement yesterday.
The U.S. car market contracted by 23% in September as the expiration of the government's “cash for clunkers” program reduced demand at mass-market automakers like General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., and Ford Motor Co. Toyota's Lexus luxury brand delivered 12% more vehicles after the introduction of a hybrid-powered sedan, the HS, and a new version of the RX SUV.
Volkswagen rose as much as 3.36 euros, or 3.1%, to 112.67 euros and was up 1.2% as of 2:54 p.m. in Frankfurt trading. Daimler AG fell 1.4% to 32.95 euros, BMW declined 1.7 percent to 31.85 euros and Porsche slid 2.2 percent to 51.57 euros.
BMW's namesake-brand sales in the U.S. rose 2.1%, as an 18% gain in car deliveries more than offset a 37% drop for SUVs. The Mini small-car division posted a 9.7% increase in U.S. sales. Models introduced in the U.S. this year include new versions of the BMW 7-Series sedan and Z4 roadster as well as a convertible Mini.
Porsche's U.S. sales rose 8.4% to 1,581 vehicles as the Boxster and Cayman sports cars, which were updated in February, won more customers, the Stuttgart, Germany-based manufacturer said.
Daimler and Volkswagen's Audi brand were the two German carmakers to report lower U.S. sales in September. Deliveries by Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars division, which ranks second to BMW in global luxury-model sales, dropped 13% to 17,799 vehicles, led by a 54% plunge for the two-seat Smart brand, Stuttgart-based Daimler said. Audi's sales fell 4.9% to 7,209 vehicles.
--Source: Bloomberg
