Audi AG reports 14.9 per cent sales growth in August

Audi continues to grow in all regions around the world, deliveries in August increased by 14.9 per cent on the corresponding prior-year month to reach some 108,100 automobiles. This means approximately 961,000 customers have chosen Audi since the beginning
of the year, an increase of 12.7 per cent. The past month's growth was driven by strong sales figures for the brand's luxury-class models as well as for the Audi Q3 and A1 Sportback.

Growth for Audi was especially evident in China (+24 per cent), while August was yet another record month for the brand in the United States as well (+13 per cent). Sales figures in Europe were also up 8 per cent, despite the difficult conditions in several markets and the model changeover of the A3. The new generation of the premium compact car was launched on the first European markets in late August.

"The A3 is arriving at just the right time, for Europe as well as for the United States and China. We want to grow significantly in their premium compact segments with the A3 model family in the coming years," says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG. "In total we want to sell considerably more units of the new A3 family during its lifecycle than we did of its very successful predecessor."

To date, Audi has delivered some 1.877-million cars from the predecessor generation of the new A3 to customers. Luca de Meo, who became the Member of the Board of Management of Audi AG for Marketing and Sales on September 1, 2012, adds, "New models such as the A3 and the updated Q5, which is also being launched at the moment, will make Audi even stronger in the difficult market environment currently prevailing in Europe."

In Europe, AUDI AG increased its sales by 3.6 per cent to some 501,900 units between January and August. The premium manufacturer thus reached the milestone of half-a-million deliveries on its home continent after just eight months for the first time. All three of Audi's largest European sales markets contributed to this with growth figures in August: On the German market, the company outperformed sales for August 2011 by 9 per cent with 20,180 units and attained a record market share of 10 per cent, as in large part to the A1 Sportback, the Q3 and the A6 Avant. In the United Kingdom, where August is traditionally a low sales month for the entire market, Audi sales figures were up 14.7 per cent and 4,144 automobiles were delivered. In France, sales were up 13.8 per cent to 3,706 units, confirming Audi's position as the leading premium brand.

While demand in Italy (-3.9 per cent to 2,408 cars) was below that seen in August 2011, Audi's delivery figures rose significantly in countries such as Spain (+7.5 per cent to 2,270 cars), Austria (+15.4 per cent to 1,463 cars), Switzerland (+62.5 per cent to 1,661 cars) and Turkey (+42.3 per cent to 1,198 cars). Audi once again achieved particularly strong growth in Russia during the past month: 2,972 premium automobiles delivered to Russian customers represent an increase of 47.9 per cent on August 2011. In Russia and in many other markets, the Q3 was a key driver of growth for Audi: Around 52,200 units in total of the compact SUV have already been sold in Europe this year.

In China, the first customers were presented with the keys for their Q3. The brand's two other SUV models also helped drive the 24 per cent increase in sales to 34,800 deliveries for Audi on this market in the past month. Demand for the Audi Q7 increased by 39.4 per cent on August 2011, while delivery statistics for the Q5 reveal a 34.1 per cent increase to 7,316 automobiles. The Audi A7 Sportback was also in strong demand among Chinese customers in August; 1,008 units of the luxury coupe were delivered to China. In total, Audi delivered 261,548 cars in the company's largest sales market – an increase of 33.1 per cent.

Besides China and Russia, the other BRIC markets rose sharply for Audi in August as well: In India, deliveries increased by 42.4 per cent in year-on-year comparison to reach 726, while in Brazil they rose 9.8 per cent to 550. Audi also posted high double-digit growth rates in South Africa (+35 per cent to 1,500 cars) and South Korea (+38.5 per cent to 1,260 units).

In the United States, the recently launched new generations of the A4 and the A5 were particularly driving continued growth: 11,527 sales, an increase of 13 per cent for Audi of America in August. Sales of the luxury Q7 SUV rose 32.1 per cent.

Audi's US deliveries for the first eight months total 88,392 automobiles, equivalent to growth of 17.5 per cent. This upward trend was in large part attributable to strong sales growth for the A6 Sedan: Audi sold 11,844 units of the vehicle in the United States between January and August, more than twice as many as in the same prior-year period.

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