Audi maintains double-digit sales growth in September, delivers 136,600 cars worldwide

Ingolstadt, October 8, 2012: Audi sales figures continue to rise at a double-digit rate. In September, the carmaker delivered around 136,600 automobiles to customers worldwide, an increase of 13.6 percent. In the first three quarters, around 1,097,500 were sold – 12.8 percent more than in the prior-year period. September 2012 saw the company benefit from continuing strong growth in the US (+26.5%) and China (+20.5%). It also grew in Europe, despite the difficult market conditions in some parts of the region – sales were up 7.4 percent on the corresponding month of 2011. As a result, September saw the Ingolstadt-based company maintain its sales growth in all regions of the world.

“This year we reached the tally of one million cars sold after just nine months – clear evidence that we are realising our strategic goals in the right way,” commented Luca de Meo, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at Audi AG. “We are seeing our new models succeed in the marketplace, reflecting the tastes of customers,” continued de Meo. Models such as the A1 Sportback, the Q3 and the A6 Avant contributed to growth of 7.4 percent in Europe compared with the same month of the previous year.

Audi thus maintained its pattern of growth in the home market of Germany in September, posting sales growth of 3.5 percent (20,712 units). Cumulatively, unit sales in Germany after the first nine months of 2012 have now reached 198,777 automobiles delivered (+7.4%).

In the UK, the second-largest European market for Audi, sales increased by 20 percent to 22,389 units.

The dynamic growth in recent months also continued in Russia, up 57.3 percent on September 2011. From January through September 2012, 25,442 Russian customers bought a new Audi, 42.9 percent more than in the equivalent period of 2011. Growth in Russia was driven by the range of SUV models. For example, the Q3 – which has not yet been on the market for a full year – is already the country’s best-selling Audi model, closely followed by the Q5.

Audi of America sold 26.5 percent more vehicles than in September 2011, growth driven by the new-generation A4 and A5, and the Q7. Almost twice as many customers as in September 2011 chose to buy this full-size SUV model (+94.6%). With 100,694 cars sold in the year to date, this is the first time ever that Audi of America has exceeded the 100,000 mark by the end of the third quarter – in 2011 it did not reach that point until into November.

The SUV and full-size models also put in a strong performance in China. Unit sales there continued to climb, and the delivery total of 35,512 for September was up 20.5 percent on the same month of 2011. Cumulatively, Audi increased its sales there to 297,060 automobiles, representing a growth rate of 31.4 percent. The most popular model remained the locally built A6 L, of which some 96,100 were sold.

In the Asia-Pacific region Audi also enjoyed considerable growth in India in the past month with demand up 82.2 percent. With a total of 6,423 cars delivered in the first three quarters of the year, Audi has already exceeded the record sales total for the whole of 2011 (5,511 units) by the end of September.