UPDDATE 1-BMW vehicle sales rise 2.2 pct in July
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FRANKFURT, Aug 7 (Reuters) - BMW (BMWG.DE), the world's largest premium car maker, posted a 2.2 percent rise in group sales last month helped by strong demand for the 1-Series coupe and cabrio as well as the full-size X5 and X6 offroaders.
In the first seven months through July, deliveries rose by 4.4 percent to 890,699 vehicles.
"We intend to maintain our growth plan albeit we will continue to react to the world market situation on a month by month basis," BMW's sales chief, Ian Robertson said in a statement.
For years BMW has delivered strong volume growth, helped by attractive financing deals often based on the assumption the equity of its brand would sustain high resale prices for vehicles coming off lease.
Applying this aggressive sales policy to the sagging U.S. market has come back to haunt them, however, after used car prices fell faster than anticipated this year.
BMW had to scrap its profit target as a result, after booking charges for additional risk provisions on residual value risks and bad debts amounting to 695 million euros ($1.08 billion) in the first half.
By comparison the group's total operating profit amounted to just 425 million euros in the second quarter. While luxury rivals have not escaped the difficulties -- with Daimler also warning earnings at Mercedes-Benz would decline this year, BMW has been hardest hit by the U.S misery.
On Wednesday, Daimler (DAIGn.DE) reported a drop of 1.1 percent in sales of its Mercedes-Benz brand in July, while Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) Audi increased sales by 2.5 percent. (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Erica Billingham)
