German carmakers’ January sales soar

German carmakers’ January sales soar

Germany’s premium carmakers BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have recorded their best January sales yet, driven by rocketing demand in emerging markets and recovery in the developed world.

The three southern German carmakers reported a sales increase of more than a fifth on the same month a year ago, in a boom that has triggered capacity shortages and extended delivery delays far beyond normal waiting times.

While demand for premium cars continued to soar in emerging markets such as China, India and Russia, the marques emphasised that sales in Europe and the US – still the world’s largest market for their products – have also made a strong comeback.

All three carmakers’ heads of sales told the Financial Times that they were each aspiring to achieve sales records in the full year 2011.

“I cannot remember a single month in my career where our complete model range was doing so well,” Peter Schwarzenbauer of Audi told the Financial Times. “It is mainly Europe and the US that is driving this.”

Germany’s three big producers are reaping the benefits of being among the industry’s biggest investors in new technology, products and design. All of them are rolling out refreshed line-ups that include all-new vehicles such as BMW’s X1 compact sport utility vehicle and Audi’s small A1.

In some major markets, the German producers are now racking up volumes that rival or exceed those of mass-market brands.

In the UK last month, for example, BMW and Audi were the country’s fourth and fifth biggest brands, outselling volume marques including Peugeot, Citroën, Nissan, Renault, Honda, and Toyota.

In Spain, Audi sold almost 24 per cent more cars, despite an overall drop on the market.

Philippe Houchois, analyst at UBS, said premium carmakers’ market share in Germany – their biggest European market – were coming back to normal levels of up to 29 per cent after falling sharply during the recession, when government-sponsored scrappage schemes spurred purchases of small cars at the expense of premium ones.

JD Power, the consultancy, said that the premium segment was faring well during the recovery as consumers began to spend money on purchases that they may have deferred during the deepest period of the recession.

BMW, the industry’s largest premium car producer, said global deliveries of its own-brand, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars totalled 105,177 in January, 28 per cent higher than a year ago.

Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, said that it had delivered 95,400 cars in January, 23 per cent more than a year ago.

Mercedes-Benz, Germany’s third large premium producer, last week said that it delivered 82,700 vehicles worldwide last month, up 23 per cent on a year ago.