People add luxury cars, but not motorcycles

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Luxury automakers BMW, Audi and Mercedes reported healthy sales increases for August on Friday, but Harley-Davidson lowered earnings expectations for the because of a "difficult time for the U.S. consumer," Chief Executive Jim Ziemer said.

• BMW, the industry's top luxury car company, said its global sales rose 13% last month from a year ago, with 99,755 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce automobiles sold.

The automaker said its August sales were led by demand from U.S. buyers, where it sold 30,638 cars, up 19.3% from a year ago. German sales rose 10.8% to 19,253 cars.

For the January-August period, BMW said sales were up 7.1% to 952,929 vehicles sold compared with the same period last year.

• Audi said it sold 66,400 cars worldwide in August, up 4.2%. Audi, a unit of Volkswagen, said it sold about 656,600 cars for the first eight months of the year, up 9.2%.

The August increases came from higher demand in China, where sales rose 24%, while in the United States, sales increased 7.1%. Sales in Britain were up 17.8% while overall growth in Europe was 3.7%.

"Growth in European export markets, meaning both established Western European markets and new markets in Eastern Europe, is a major factor behind our success," said Ralph Weyler, who oversees the company's marketing and sales. "We are steadily and consistently increasing our market share in these regions."

Sales in Germany, Audi's home market, slipped 7.7% last month to 18,063 cars sold. Joerg Felske, Audi's head of sales for Germany, said that decline was the result of the end of production on the company's A4 model.

• DaimlerChrysler said its Mercedes Car Group saw sales increase 9% in August, reaching a record 96,200 Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart brands sold.

But the results could not lift its January-August sales, which slipped to 817,600 from 818,200 a year earlier.

By brand, the group said it sold 89,100 Mercedes-Benz cars in August, up 9%, led by demand for its new C-Class sedan and its luxury segment S-Class.