BERLIN -- Porsche AG reported a 4 percent decline in sales in July, burdened by a drop in demand for the aging 911 sports car.
Deliveries fell to 10,722 vehicles last month from 11,169 a year earlier, the company said Friday.
The decline comes as Porsche prepares to show a revamped version of the 911 at the IAA in Frankfurt in September. The drop marked the first monthly fall in car sales since May 2010, said Dirk Erat, a Porsche spokesman.
Porsche's vehicle sales in Europe plunged to 3,475 from 5,631 in July, but rose almost fivefold in China to 2,484.
In North America, Porsche sales grew slightly in July to 2,768 cars, from 2,703.
"We are looking to the months ahead with confidence and believe new vehicles, such as the Panamera diesel, will boost European sales," sales chief Bernhard Maier said in a statement.
UniCredit analyst Georg Stuerzer attributed the sluggish growth to the quick rollout of derivatives, such as the Panamera S Hybrid, relative to other model lines, meaning sales were already at a high base.
"Target sales of 20,000 Panameras should be reached this year, and the diesel version could contribute an additional 3,000 to 4,000 in annual sales," he said.
While July deliveries of the 911 slumped 35 percent to 1,666 vehicles, the newly-revamped Cayenne SUV continued to be the brand's best seller, racking up 5,483 sales, a rise of 16 percent since last year.
The Panamera sedan sold 2,352 units in July, a rise of 2.5 percent. The brand's mid-engined Cayman and Boxster models sold 1,221 units in July, a drop of 23 percent on yearly figures.
In the first seven months, Porsche sold 71,381 new cars, 28 percent more than in the same period in 2010.
Porsche aims to double deliveries to at least 200,000 cars and SUVs by 2018 by adding models and expanding in emerging markets.
Sources: Bloomberg and Reuters, with contributions from David Jolley
