Audi stays firmly on track: despite the more challenging economic climate in many key markets and the forthcoming model changeover in high volume model lines, the company managed to further increase its deliveries in the past month. With 128,650 cars (+2.7%) the brand with the four rings saw its best August sales figures ever. The weaker economic development in markets such as China (-4.1%) or Russia (-15.4%) was offset particularly by the strong demand in Europe (+6.9%) and the Americas (+10.0%). Around 1,177,100 customers worldwide have chosen an Audi since the start of the year, an increase of 3.4 percent.
“Even in the face of highly volatile key markets, Audi further increased its global sales in August. At the same time we are preparing to step up the pace with our broad model and technology drive,” says Luca de Meo, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG. “With the new Audi A4 and the Audi e‑tron quattro concept we will be presenting two important flagships for our innovation strategy at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt.”
In China alone, Audi will be introducing more than ten new models by the middle of next year. Together they will account for around two thirds of Audi’s current sales volume in the Chinese market. In the past month, the company delivered 45,196 cars to customers in the Middle Kingdom, 4.1 percent lower than in the strong prior‑year month. With 361,316 deliveries (‑0.8%) since the start of the year, Audi reaffirmed its position as premium market leader.
Global sales of the new Audi TT, which is available now in all major markets, tripled in the past month to around 2,350 units. At around 19,100 deliveries since the start of the year, the Audi TT reclaimed its position as the world’s most popular premium sports car in its segment.
Audi has maintained the positive trend in Western Europe: the carmaker managed to further expand its customer base in August, with sales up 7.7 percent to around 41,400 cars. Growth was driven in particular by the high demand for the carmaker’s full‑size models. Combined sales of the A6, A7, Q7 and A8 increased by 30.7 percent to around 7,250 units. Germany in particularproved to be a strong growth driver, with sales up 13.5 percent to 15,934 cars. Over the past eight months, Audi thus grew by 4.7 percent in the Western European region to around 498,900 deliveries. In Russia, the four rings saw sales fall by 15.4 percent to 2,201 units sold in August.
In the United States, however, Audi achieved an encouraging result. With 18,794 cars, the company sold just under ten percent more than in August 2014. The A3 family (+31.2% to 3,188 units), the Q3 (1,189 units), whose updated generation went on sale in U.S. dealers last month, and the Q5 as Audi’s U.S. bestseller (+34.4% to 5,051 units) provided a substantial boost. In addition to the United States, the double‑digit growth in Brazil (+20.3% to 1,410 units) and Mexico (+14.9% to 1,258 units) contributed to the brand’s strong sales in the Americas. Demand in the region increased by 10.0 percent to around 24,742 units in the past month. Since January the company has already handed over more than 175,000 cars to customers in the Americas (+13.0%).
Source: Audi