BMW diverts new cars from Europe to U.S.

A lot of new BMWs that were headed for the German autobahn may be headed for American interstates instead.

BMW has shifted "tens of thousands" of cars that were going to be sold in Europe to the U.S. and Asia, BMW sales chief Ian Robertson told reporters, according to Bloomberg News.

That's because of the economic trouble in Europe that's dragging down new-car sales. There, auto sales are on track for the worst one-year sales drop in 19 years. But the brand is helped by the international nature of the auto business that makes it increasingly easy to sell BMWs elsewhere in the world and by popularity of new BMW models in the U.S. and China. Global sales were up 14% in September, despite a shrinking auto market in Europe.

Robertson pointed to the U.S. as one of the markets with brighter prospects. The industry is on track to sell at least 14 million new cars this year in the U.S.

Europe faces "a lot of bumps on the road" before it stabilizes and an auto-market recovery could take years, Robertson is quoted by Bloomberg as saying.