For the month of April, luxury carmakers (including Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz division, BMW brand, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini and Land Rover) made strong gains in European auto production.

The 2010 results are expected to come out favorably against the April 2009 period when sales dropped due to the global financial crisis and Europe’s incentive program that favored small cars. With the recovery in the global economy and the ending of government subsidies, the factories in Europe are boosting production to fill orders for high-end models. Notably, the April output for the Mercedes S class rose to 6,012 units from 675 in 2009. The Land Rover Range Rover Sport increased by 157% year on year. Production was also boosted for the all-new Rolls-Royce Ghost, according to estimates from J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting. Overall, European production rose by 8% in the month to 1,367,512 and 28% to 5,746,227 through April. It should also be noted that April was the first month when the year-on-year production growth rate was a single-digit percentage (instead of double digits).