A recent uptick in gas prices pushed consumers toward fuel-efficient vehicles rather than back to the sidelines, with the annual sales rate jumping to 15.1 million vehicles, according to Autodata. This was the best monthly showing since February 2008. Volkswagen led the way with a 42 percent sales surge year over year, followed by Chrysler’s 40 percent increase.

Audi: Audi of America reported 8,531 luxury vehicles sold in February, surpassing the prior February record set in 2011. The company’s year-over-year vehicle sales increased 10 percent while it’s year-to-date growth increased 14.9 percent compared to 2011. Three Audi models recorded year-over-year sales increases of 15 percent or more, including the Audi A3, Audi A6 and Audi TT models.

BMW/MINI: BMW Group reported February sales of 26,184 vehicles, a 31.5 percent increase from the 19,919 vehicles sold during the year-ago month. Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 29.2 percent from a year ago to 21,204 in February. MINI USA reported sales of 4,980 units, an increase of 42.2 percent from the 3,503 sold in February 2011.

Chrysler: Chrysler Group LLC recorded its best February sales month since 2008 with 133,521 units sold, a 40 percent increase from February 2010. The Chrysler brand recorded a 114 percent year-over-year increase, while the FIAT brand finished its first year of sales with its best month ever. Sales of the Fiat 500 were up 69 percent compared to the previous month. Both the Jeep and Dodge brands posted year-over-year sales increases in February as well.

Ford: Ford Motor Company experienced a 14 percent increase in sales vs. the year-ago month, with 179,119 vehicles sold. Retail sales alone increased 19 percent. The Ford brand was up 14 percent, while Lincoln posted a 16 percent increase vs. a year ago. Ford’s F-Series posted a 26 percent increase, totaling 47,273 pickups. Focus sales totaled 23,350 units.

GM: General Motors Co. announced total sales of 209,306 vehicles in February, up 1.1 percent compared to a year ago. Year-over-year sales of the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD were up 28 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Other sales highlights for February include double-digit sales increases for the Buick LaCrosse, the Chevrolet Equinox and Camaro, and the GMC Terrain.

Honda/Acura: American Honda Motor Co. posted sales of 110,157 units, an increase of 7.8 percent vs. February 2011, based on the daily selling rate. The Honda Division posted February 2012 sales of 98,899, an increase of 8.8 percent year over year. The Acura Division’s February sales totaled 11,258, up 0.1 percent compared to February 2011, with the TL and TSX models registering strong sales increases.

Hyundai: Hyundai Motor America announced record February sales of 51,151 units, up 18 percent vs. 2011. Overall retail sales rose 29 percent year over year, while sales of the Sonata, Elantra and Accent increased by 11 percent, 12 percent and 29 percent, respectively. Combined sales of the Genesis and Equus models were up five percent over 2011 as well.

Mazda: Mazda North American Operations recorded its February sales month since 1994 with 25,651 units sold, representing an increase of 32.3 percent vs. last year. Mazda2 sales totaled 2,701, marking a 210.5 percent year-over-year increase, while Mazda3 sales totaled 11,275 vehicles for a 39.6 percent increase. Mazda 6 reported its best month since March 2008 with 5,101 vehicles sold, a 79.7 percent increase over 2011.

Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz USA reported February sales of 19,679 vehicles, a 21.7 percent improvement over February 2011 and the highest February volume on record. Sales for the month of February were led by the C-, E-, and M-Class model lines. The C-Class led the way with sales of 5,240, up 17 percent over February 2011. The E-Class came in right behind with sales of 4,206 and the M-Class rounded out the top three with sales of 3,408, up 77.1 percent compared to February 2011.

Nissan/Infiniti: Nissan North America Inc. posted February U.S. sales of 106,731 units vs. 92,370 units a year earlier, marking an increase of 15.5 percent. Nissan Division posted a record February with 97,492 sales, an increase of 17.1 percent over the old record of 83,226 units set in 2011. Infiniti delivered 9,239 vehicles in February, an increase of 1 percent vs. 9,144 units a year earlier.

Toyota: Toyota Motor Co. reported monthly sales of 159,423 units in February, a 7.9 percent year-over-year increase on a daily selling rate basis and 12.4 percent on an unadjusted raw volume basis. Led by sales of the Camry and Camry Hybrid and the Prius family, the Toyota Division recorded February sales of 142,745 units, an increase of 7 percent vs. the year ago month. The Lexus Division reported sales of 16,678 units, up 15.9 percent over last February.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen of America Inc. realized its best February since 1973 with 30,577 units sold. The company’s performance also represented a 42.5 percent increase vs. a year ago. Sales of the Passat totaled 8,189 units for the month of February, while the Jetta sedan remains the volume leader for Volkswagen with sales totaling 11,694 — its best February ever. The 2012 Beetle sold 1,303 units while the Tiguan sold 2,280 units.

Retail sales rose 11.4 percent in January, with the industry pacing at a 14.18 million seasonally adjusted annual sales rate — the highest rate since the government’s Cash for Clunkers program in August 2009, according to AutoData.

Toyota was the comeback kid, experiencing a 7.5 percent gain from a year ago after suffering through months of declines due to production issues caused by last year’s disasters in Japan and Thailand. At the top of the sales board were Chrysler Group and Volkswagen of America Inc., both brands registering double-digit increases. Mercedes-Benz rounded out January’s top three thanks to strong demand for its SUV and passenger car lineup.

Audi: Audi of America sold 9,354 vehicles in January, a 19.7 percent year-over-year increase from January 2011. The company’s performance marked the best January in Audi of America’s history. Sales of the Audi A6 increased 90 percent over 2011, sales of the Audi Q7 increased 15 percent, and sales of the Audi A7 totaled 643 vehicles.

BMW/MINI: BMW Group reported January sales of 19,739 vehicles, an increase of 5.8 percent from the year-ago month. Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 3.1 percent from last January to 16,405. The best performing vehicles included the X3 SAV, up 56.9 percent to 1,687 units; the 6 Series, up 392.8 percent to 409 units; and the 7 Series, up 56.1 percent to 977 units. MINI USA reported sales of 3,334 automobiles in January, an increase of 21.2 percent from the 2,751 sold in January 2011.

Chrysler: Chrysler Group LLC sold 101,149 units in January, a 44 percent increase vs. January 2011 (70,118 units). The performance marked the group’s best January since 2008. The Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck brands all posted sales gains, led by the Chrysler brand’s 81 percent increase. The group’s 44 percent increase was driven in large part by strong sales of the Chrysler 300, Chrysler 200, and Dodge Charger and Avenger sedans.

Ford: Ford Motor Company sold 136,710 vehicles in January, a 7 percent gain compared with January 2011. Retail sales increased 8 percent. Focus sales were up 60 percent, marking the best January for the model since 2003. Ford brand sales totaled 131,589 vehicles in January, marking the best January sales month for Ford brand since 2008.

GM: General Motors Company sold 167,962 vehicles in January, a 6 percent decrease vs. January 2011. GM’s total passenger car sales increased 3 percent in January, led by a 30-percent increase in sales of fuel-efficient, small and compact cars. The company’s crossover sales decreased 18 percent, and sales of trucks, which include full-size pickups, vans and SUVs, decreased 6 percent. Retail deliveries declined 15 percent year over year.

Honda/Acura: American Honda Motor Co. sold 83,009 in the U.S. in January, an increase of 8.8 percent over January 2011. The Honda Division posted sales of 74,628, an increase of 9.3 percent year over year. Civic sales increased 49.5 percent. The Accord posted sales of 13,659, up 1.5 percent from the same period last year. Acura Division’s January sales totaled 8,381 units, up 5.3 percent year over year.

Hyundai: Hyundai Motor America announced an all-time record January with sales of 42,694 units, up 15 percent vs. 2011. January retail sales were up 19 percent, led by a 13 percent increase in Elantra sales and a 27 percent increase in Genesis/Equus sales.

Mazda: Mazda North American Operations reported its best January since 1994 with U.S. sales of 23,996 vehicles, a 68.2 percent increase vs. last year. Mazda3 sales totaled 9,200 units, an 83.4 percent increase vs. last year. This was the model’s best-ever January. Mazda CX-7 and CX-9 crossover SUV sales were up 32.6 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, marking the best-ever January for both vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz USA posted a 25.8 percent increase in January, with 21,726 vehicles sold. This was the best January in the company’s history. Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles and SUVs fueled the company’s performance, with the C-Class leading the way with a 56.4 percent increase in sales. The E-Class followed with sales of 4,097, and the M-Class rounded out the Top 3 with sales of 4,002, up 61.1 percent.

Nissan/Infiniti: Nissan North America Inc. reported January sales of 79,313 units, an increase of 10.4 percent vs. last year. Nissan Division sales rose 12.5 percent for the month to 72,517 units, with Versa sales setting a new record with 9,418 deliveries (up 8.5 percent). Sales of Infiniti vehicles decreased 8.2 percent from the prior year to 6,796 units, while sales of the Infiniti QX totaled 1,020, an increase of 30.4 percent vs. last year.

Toyota: Toyota Motor Sales reported monthly sales results of 124,540 units, an increase of 7.5 percent over the year ago month on a daily selling rate (DSR) and unadjusted raw volume basis. Driven by an increase in sales of 2012 Camry and Camry hybrid, Toyota Division posted January sales of 112,266 units, an increase of 9 percent compared to the same period last year. The Lexus Division reported sales of 12,274 units, down 4.6 percent from last January.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen of America Inc. posted 27,209 units sold in January, a 47.9 percent increase compared to the year-ago period. Passat sales totaled 6,318 units, while Jetta sales totaled 9,564 units. Sales of the 2012 Beetle totaled 1,401, while Touareg sales increased 68 percent. Tiguan sales increased 50 percent. The TDI models experienced a 30.2 percent increase vs. 2011.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest manufacturer of luxury vehicles, expanded its lead over Volkswagen AG’s Audi, buoyed by demand for the X3 sport-utility vehicle.

Sales at BMW’s namesake brand rose 9.3 percent to 128,446 vehicles in September as deliveries of the X3 more than tripled, the Munich-based automaker said today in a statement. Audi posted a 17 percent gain, delivering 120,200 autos on stronger demand in China, the Ingolstadt, Germany-based company said.

“It’s all holding up extremely well,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst with Credit Suisse in London. The growth rates of about 20 percent that BMW and Audi posted in China are “quite healthy.”

BMW, Audi, and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz are targeting record sales this year and anticipate demand for high-end vehicles to outpace the broader auto market in the coming years, reported Bloomberg. European investor confidence fell to the lowest in more than two years this month on concern that the region’s debt crisis and weaker growth in emerging markets will hurt economic expansion.

“We made solid gains across the globe and once again achieved record sales for September,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s sales chief, said in the statement. The company is “on course” to meet its target of delivering 1.6 million vehicles this year and aims to maintain an “upward trend” in the fourth quarter, he said.

BMW rose as much as 3.7 percent to 52.78 euros and was up 3.6 percent at 4:16 p.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has fallen 10 percent this year, valuing the company at 33.8 billion euros. Daimler gained 3.8 percent to 35.28 euros and Volkswagen jumped 4.8 percent to 106.30 euros.

Audi aims to sell more than 300,000 vehicles in China for the first time after already surpassing last year’s total, Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi’s sales chief, said in the statement. The carmaker also increased deliveries in debt-strapped countries such as Italy and Spain, helped by the A6 sedan and A1 subcompact, the company said.

“Growth is being driven above all by the emerging markets, primarily from China, but also from Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey,” said Marc-Rene Tonn, a Hamburg-based analyst with Warburg Research, who recommends buying Daimler and Volkswagen shares, and has a “hold” rating on BMW. “The question is how the sales values hold up there.”

BMW expanded its lead over Audi and Mercedes after the first nine months of 2011, delivering 1.02 million vehicles compared with Audi’s 973,200 and Mercedes’s 919,288. The Daimler unit, which aims to overtake Audi and BMW by 2020, remained in third place after sales last month edged up 2 percent to 120,982 cars and SUVs, the Stuttgart, Germany-based company said Oct. 5.

“It’s probably not going to get much better for Mercedes before 2013,” said Ellinghorst. Consumers are looking to trade down to smaller vehicles, a “weak” area for Mercedes, he said.

Mercedes’ best-selling C-Class will also face tougher competition next year, as BMW prepares to introduce a revamped version of the 3-Series sedan.

Volkswagen AG’s Audi, the luxury brand trying to double its U.S. sales, has lowered the sticker price of its redesigned A6 midsize sedan to grab more market share.

The new A6, now in its first full month of sales, starts at $41,700, the company said on its website, down from $45,200 for the previous model. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s 5-Series line, which outsells the A6 almost fivefold in the U.S., starts at $45,050, and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans start at $49,400 and outsell the Audi model almost 6-to-1, according to Bloomberg.

Volkswagen aims to double luxury sales in the U.S. to 200,000 — in league with BMW, Mercedes and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus — by 2018 as part of its plan to become the world’s biggest automaker. While the compact A4 cars and Q5 sport- utility vehicle accounts for half of Audi’s U.S. sales, boosting sales volume for the A6 will increase exposure of the brand to influential consumers beyond its full-size A8 and stretched A8L.

“People observe what these wealthy and discerning individuals drive,” Johan de Nysschen, head of Audi in the U.S., said in an interview. “It’s an important part of the brand development.”

While Audi sells fewer vehicles than the top luxury brands, it has narrowed the gap. Five years ago, Audi deliveries totaled 90,116 cars and SUVs in the U.S., while the other three brands sold 247,973 to 322,434.

BMW, poised to become the top-selling luxury auto brand in the U.S. this year, and Mercedes “are vastly outperforming” Audi in the midsize segment, said Tom Libby, an auto-sales analyst with Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based R.L. Polk & Co.

Audi sold 8,006 A6 sedans in the U.S. last year, trailing the 38,700 5-Series and 46,900 E-Class sedans sold. Sales of the outgoing Audi model, last redesigned in 2005, have increased 0.9 percent through July, while deliveries of E-Class sedans rose 8.4 percent and 5-Series sales jumped 65 percent.

“If they want to get to their goal of being the No. 1 premium brand, if they want to get to the goal of 200,000 units in the United States, obviously they need to improve in that segment,” Libby said.

Audi accounts for a quarter of U.S. sales by Volkswagen, which aims to be the world’s biggest and most-profitable automaker by 2018. Last year, VW ranked third, about 1.2 million deliveries behind Toyota and General Motors Co. Through the first half, it trails GM by about 400,000 sales and leads Toyota by about the same amount.

The lower sticker price on the new base A6 means the automaker shouldn’t have to rely on subsidized lease offers to lower payments. Selling without big discounts will improve impressions of the brand and model over time, said Polk’s Libby.

“You can’t keep being a quote-unquote deal product and expect to establish yourself in those upper price-range segments,” he said. “You need to reposition and slowly rebuild it.”

Audi’s efforts to become more premium have raised the average transaction price of its brand by $5,000 over the past three years and taken new customers from competitors, de Nysschen said.

The new car, which can come with features such as night- vision assist and a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot, is winning praise from critics.

“The A6 blends everything together into a symphony of driving fun,” wrote Scott Burgess of the Detroit News. “This A6 will make many trips more interesting than the actual destinations.”

Audi’s integration of technology, including self-parking and the Google Earth mapping system programmed into the navigation screen, may help it attract luxury customers who often want the latest gadgets, said Jeremy Anwyl, head of Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica-California-based website that tracks auto sales.

“Nobody needs to spend that kind of money on a vehicle,” he said. “They’re doing so because they want to. A lot of it is a statement. From the technology standpoint, it’s the cool factor.”

Sales of the previous A6 were improving as the brand set a U.S. record last year, said Joel Weinberger, who owns an Audi dealership in Naperville, Illinois, west of Chicago.

The new “A6 is going to continue to ride that wave and be able to expand that market,” he said. “It’s a 5-Series and E- Class fighter.”

The A6 along with the larger A7 and A8 sedans and Q7 SUV are part of an effort to woo more wealthy customers. By next year, de Nysschen said he wants those models to consistently account for 30 percent of deliveries, up from 18 percent last year. While Audi has reached that mix in some months when supply of A4 compact cars has been limited, he aims for more sales of all models.

U.S. sales of the redesigned A8, introduced last year, rose to 3,300 through July from 473 a year earlier. The new A7, which went on sale in April, has already sold 2,701 this year.

“The A6, of course, is an extremely important part of our strategy to raise the center of gravity of the brand moving forward,” de Nysschen said.

Audi has taken 850 dealer employees to Germany for training and 1,000 more have attended special sessions in the U.S., he said. Over the next 18 months, an additional 4,000 people will go through the program, which includes customer service and hospitality training.

“It’s an area that I think is especially important as we seek to expand the number of these high-end and discerning and obviously demanding customers,” he said. “They arrive with a different expectation set perhaps than what our dealers have been accustomed to in the past and we need to respond to this.”

It was a lackluster dealer experience that nudged Ryan Waid into a BMW 5-Series instead of an Audi.

“The service at the BMW store has been fantastic,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why even if I really consider Audi it would be hard for me to leave BMW.”

Still, he’s willing to give Audi a try. His three-year lease ends next year and he’s interested in the A6 because of its more aggressive exterior look, said Waid, 37, a lawyer who lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

“I’ve been impressed by the reviews I’ve read.”

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, earned record per-car profit in the second quarter as demand for the 5-Series sedan helped it beat Volkswagen AG’s Audi.

BMW generated the highest profit margin of the top three luxury-car makers, with its auto unit posting earnings before interest and taxes equivalent to 14.4 percent of sales, up from 9.6 percent a year earlier. That beat margins of 11.8 percent at Audi and 10.7 percent at Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, according to Bloomberg.

“For an analyst who’s covered BMW for 11 years it’s amazing to see this level of earnings,” said Max Warburton, a London-based Sanford C. Bernstein analyst with an “outperform” rating on the stock. “At no point in the past would it have been imaginable that this company could make margins of this level.”

Demand for the revamped 5-Series sedan and X3 sport-utility vehicle helped the maker of BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce models keep its high-end segment lead. Deliveries this year of the $45,050 5-Series have jumped 80 percent and the $36,750 X3 has more than doubled, fueling an 18 percent rise in the BMW brand’s first-half deliveries. Audi, which passed Mercedes this year and aims to topple BMW by 2015, also boosted sales 18 percent.

BMW closed down 1.92 euros, or 2.8 percent, at 65.79 euros, after gaining as much as 2.4 percent in Frankfurt trading earlier in the day. The stock has risen 12 percent this year, valuing the company at 42 billion euros ($60 billion). VW is up 9 percent in 2011, while Daimler has dropped 6.5 percent.

BMW’s second-quarter Ebit climbed 66 percent to 2.86 billion euros, the Munich-based carmaker said today. Profit beat the 2.3 billion-euro average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“This is not a one-time event for BMW,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based Credit Suisse analyst with an “outperform” rating on the shares. “They have the strongest product lineup and best execution in the market.”

Germany’s luxury-car makers are ramping up production to satisfy growing demand in China and rebounding spending in the U.S. Mercedes is building a factory in Hungary and expanding a plant in Alabama, while Audi has added production in Spain.

BMW will expand a South Carolina factory to 300,000 vehicles next year from 270,000 in 2011, and will likely decide in favor of building a new facility to assemble vehicles in Brazil from parts produced at other plants, Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said today.

“We are producing at the limit” and the waits for some models like the X3 are “too long,” said Reithofer.

Second-quarter net income more than doubled to 1.81 billion euros from 834 million euros as revenue gained 17 percent to 17.9 billion euros. Earnings were boosted by 464 million euros in one-time gains from releasing risk provisions. Excluding the one-time gains, BMW generated an auto margin of 13.9 percent.

BMW raised its 2011 profit and sales forecasts on July 12, citing strong demand for its vehicles. The company today said that ebit at its auto division will exceed 10 percent of revenue in 2011, excluding one-time effects. Sales are projected to rise to more than 1.6 million vehicles.

“From today’s perspective, it seems unlikely that we will be able to maintain the high ebit margin of the second quarter through the rest of the year,” Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner said.

The increase in deliveries declined to about 7 percent in July and growth will likely be slower overall in the second half because of lineup changes and higher deliveries a year earlier, the carmaker said.

“Global risks continue to increase rather than decrease,” said Reithofer. “Concerted action of the international community is required to be able to maintain economic and financial strength worldwide.”

BMW will introduce an overhauled version of the 1-Series compact in September in a bid to outsell Audi’s A3. Model introductions will add about 500 million euros to expenses in the final six months of 2011, while higher raw material prices will increase costs by more than 100 million euros, Eichiner said. The company is targeting margins in a range of 8 percent to 10 percent on average after this year.

“BMW’s margins have peaked,” said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst with Bankhaus Metzler who has a “sell” rating on the stock. “The best phase of the cycle is behind it, as the product mix will start deteriorating with the 1-Series.”

INGOLSTADT – Volkswagen AG’s Audi division aims to continue expanding even if it achieves its goal of selling 1.5 million cars a year by 2015 and becoming the world’s No. 1 luxury brand.

“Of course we don’t want to stop there,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Automotive News Europe Executive Edition in an interview to be published Tuesday, February 22, reported Automotive News Europe.

Stadler said Audi has other key targets as part of its strategic roadmap. “Profitability is one of them but not the only important one. Customer satisfaction and quality are other important goals. We want to become the most successful premium brand and this means that all these targets have to be ‘premium,” Stadler said.

Audi urgently needs more production capacity within the next four years to reach the sales goals. Stadler said. “In Hungary we will add an additional capacity of 125.000 units as of 2013. This year the Audi Q3 has its run up in Martorell in Spain with a maximum capacity of 100.000. And we will make a decision on an U.S. facility until 2015.”

Stadler said China will be Audi’s top market with Germany as number two and volume increasing in the United States. “I think that our volume in the U.S. market can grow 50 percent over the next five years and that we can reach 200.000 units per year after 2015.”

The UK will be Audi’s fourth-largest market, followed by Italy at number five, Stadler said.