Audi says its global sales edged up to 128,650 cars (+2.7% on last year) in the month of August. However, the premium brand also reported adverse developments in a number of key markets.
Audi said that weaker economic developments led to falls in markets such as China (-4.1%) and Russia (-15.4%). However, falls in emerging markets were offset by strong demand in Europe (+6.9%) and the Americas (+10.0%).
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In the first eight months of the year Audi sales stand at around 1,177,100 units, an increase of 3.4% on the same period of last year.
“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,” said Luca de Meo, Audi’s sales chief. “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,” he added.
Audi says that it will be introducing more than ten new models in China by the middle of next year. Audi claims to be the premium market leader in China, but reported August sales of 45,196 cars, a drop of 4.1% on last year. In the first eight months of the year, Audi sold 361,316 cars in China, a total that is slightly down (-0.8%) on the same period of last year.
In the US market, Audi reported another good sales month, with 18,794 cars sold (up 9.9%). Audi said the A3 family (+31.2% to 3,188 units), the Q3 (1,189 units), whose updated generation went on sale in US dealers last month, and the Q5 as Audi’s U.S. bestseller (+34.4% to 5,051 units) provided a substantial boost in the US marketplace.
