Sales of German luxury cars drop slower in August

Sales of high-end Audi, BMW and Daimler cars slipped in August but by less than during the depths of the global economic crisis, figures recently released by the German auto manufacturers showed.

BMW, the world's most popular luxury car, posted a drop in sales of 9.7 percent in August compared with a year earlier to 91,790 vehicles.

Sales at Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars fell 13 percent to 73,200, while Audi, a unit of auto giant Volkswagen, saw only a 2.7 percent drop to 65,900 cars.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we will get back onto a growth track in the coming months," BMW sales director Ian Robertson was quoted as saying.

Klaus Meier, sales chief at Mercedes-Benz Cars also voiced guarded optimism, saying: "We are expecting higher sales in the coming month."

High-end cars have not benefited from various government auto scrapping premiums worldwide as much as smaller, more environmentally friendly cars.

BMW and Audi both stressed improved sales in China however and Audi maintained its overall sales target of 900,000 cars this year.

BMW sales in China leapt 63 percent to around 9,000 vehicles in August, while Audi sold 35 percent more cars at some 13,300.