Germany’s car market has definitely seen better days, as sales in the first 11 months of 2010 are down 25.2% compared to the same period last year. However, strong demand for luxury cars in the U.S. and China is keeping premium automakers like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz busy during the holiday season and, most importantly, profitable.
“2010 was expected to be a tough year all round” John Lawson, a London-based analyst at Citi Investment Research, wrote in a report. “But rich China sales have leapt (and) foreign exchange has been very supportive”.