Luxury-car makers boosted their outlooks for 2010 as demand recovered faster than expected after a woeful 2009, fueled by a growing number of affluent Chinese customers and a rebound in the U.S.

Audi AG will report a 'very significant' annual rise in second-quarter earnings, fueled by stronger car sales, and plans to offer more concrete full-year sales guidance on Friday, the German luxury car maker's chief executive, Rupert Stadler, said late Monday.

'We will exceed the 1 million (car sales) significantly this year,' Mr. Stadler told reporters at the presentation of the new A7 coupe in Munich, reiterating previous statements. He declined to be more specific, but noted that 'we might have something more to say on this on Friday.'

Audi's German rival Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday said it expects to contribute 4 billion ($5.2 billion) in earnings before interest and tax, or Ebit, to parent Daimler AG's full-year profit, which is expected to total at 6 billion this year.

The company had previously expected Ebit at the core Mercedes-Benz Cars unit to come in at the upper end of a 2.5 billion to 3 billion range in 2010 and group Ebit to exceed 4 billion. The Mercedes-Benz Cars unit comprises the Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach nameplates.

'We have a very dynamic development of unit sales and revenue in all divisions,' Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said in a statement, adding that the Stuttgart-based firm expects 'significant revenue growth' for the full year.

Mr. Zetsche confirmed previous statements saying the unit is expected to achieve a return on sales of 10% in the second half of 2012 and maintain this level in 2013.

In the second quarter, return on sales at the Mercedes-Benz Cars division was 9.8%, driven by strong demand for large models with healthy profit margins such as the updated Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the flagship S-Class sedan, particularly in China.

Daimler said the Mercedes-Benz brand reported its strongest second quarter ever, with car sales rising 24% on the year to 314,400 vehicles.

For the second half of the year, Mercedes-Benz expects 'the positive trend of the first two quarters to continue, but no longer with the same dynamism.' Still, car sales at the Mercedes-Benz brand are expected to rise by a double-digit percentage rate in 2010.

The luxury car sector, however, recovered faster than expected in the first six months of the year and automakers are upbeat that growth will continue in the second half of 2010.

BMW AG, the world's largest luxury car maker by sales ahead of Mercedes-Benz and Audi, said earlier this month that pretax profit in 2010 is set to rise more sharply than previously anticipated because vehicle sales are expected to be better than hoped.

BMW now expects vehicle sales this year to rise by about 10% to more than 1.4 million cars, after previously forecasting a rise in the single-digit percentage range to more than 1.3 million cars. The company sold 1.29 million cars in 2009, down 10.4% on the year earlier.

Christoph Rauwald

• annual [´ænjuəl] a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• exceed [ik´si:d] v.超(胜)过；凌驾 (初中英语单词)
• previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中英语单词)
• contribute [kən´tribju:t] v.贡献出；投稿；捐献 (初中英语单词)
• achieve [ə´tʃi:v] vt.完成；达到；获得 (初中英语单词)
• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)
• driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi] a.健康的 (初中英语单词)
• percentage [pə´sentidʒ] n.百分数；比例；部分 (初中英语单词)
• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)
• concrete [´kɔŋkri:t] a.具体的 n.混凝土 (高中英语单词)
• specific [spi´sifik] a.具体的；特有的 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
• guidance [´gaidəns] n.向导，指导，领导 (英语四级单词)
• presentation [,prezən´teiʃən] n.介绍；赠送；提出 (英语四级单词)
• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)
• munich [´mju:nik] n.慕尼黑 (英语六级单词)