Volkswagen's Audi emerged as the clear winner among Germany's luxury carmakers in May, posting a far smaller decline in global vehicle sales than either BMW or Mercedes-Benz. Audi posted a 6.1 percent drop in sales to 82,800 vehicles -- relatively mild given a sharp collapse in luxury car demand -- while Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand saw sales fall 12 percent to 86,300 as record sales in China cushioned the blow for both.
BMW brand sales by comparison sank by 18 percent to 90,643 vehicles, although its head of sales attempted to put a positive spin on the hefty decline by noting the rate of contraction was at least subsiding compared with January, February and April.
"Sales decreased much more slowly in May than in recent months. Overall, I am cautiously optimistic that our global sales figures will continue to improve over the course of the year," Ian Robertson said in a statement on Monday.
So far, the BMW brand's best performance this year was a 17 percent year-on-year drop in the month of March.
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