FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — German luxury car group BMW said on Wednesday that its unit sales gained 10.8 per cent last month from the May 2009 level, and that the BMW brand remained the world’s leading premium automobile.

A BMW statement said the group sold a total of 120,843 vehicles, of which 101,775 were BMW-brand cars, despite a slump in Germany and the United States.

The group also owns the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands.

BMW-brand deliveries through May rose by 14.1 per cent to 466,087 vehicles, which meant it remained the leading luxury brand.

In the same five-month period, German rival Audi sold 455,700 cars and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz brand sold 443,400.

“We are on course to maintain our position as the world’s leading manufacturer of premium vehicles throughout 2010,” BMW sales director Ian Robertson was quoted as saying.

The group benefited from a leap of 107.3 per cent in Chinese sales of BMW and Mini-brand cars to 13,998 vehicles, but saw deliveries slip by 3.9 per cent in the US and by 13.7 per cent in the domestic German market.

Globally, Mini sales increased by 2.7 per cent in May to 18,848 units, while Rolls-Royce tripled its deliveries to 220 automobiles owing to solid demand for the new Ghost model.

Robertson pointed also to the successful launch of several BMW models, such as a new 5 series and the X1 compact sports utility vehicle.

The luxury 7 series turned in a strong performance as well meanwhile, with an increase of 33.6 per cent from the previous year to 4,501 models.