Thursday, March 13, 2008

Audi net profit jumps 26% at €1.7 billion

INGOLSTADT (Germany): Luxury car maker Audi has reported a whopping 26 per cent jump in profit after tax in the year 2007, on the back of robust sales growth in overseas market.

Announcing the annual results here, the company said its PAT stood at €1.7 billion, against €1.3 billion in 2006.

"For the past 12 years, Audi has continuously gone from strength to strength. The year 2007 was our 12th record breaking year in a row," Mr Rupert Stadler, Chairman, Audi said, adding that the company has registered increased sales in 50 countries.

The company continued to post high turnover for over a decade, he said. Audi's revenues in the year rose 7.9 per cent at €3.6 billion euro, while overall sales grew by 6.5 per cent at 9,64,000 in 2007, with emerging markets, including Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific regions contributing significantly.

The company crossed the 1,00,000 units mark in China, while also growing significantly in Russia. However, in German market, Audi registered a decline in sales at 1.5 per cent. Mr Stadler attributed the drop in domestic sales to slump in the German aut o market, which saw a fall of 9.2 per cent in comparison to last year.

Presently Audi group has plants at Hungry, China and Brussels. The group is also planning to aggressively launch new models in the market to maintain its position.

"We plan to expand our model range to 40 countries by 2015. Each year we are investing €2 billion, which I think will provide a number of interesting surprises," said Mr Stadler

No comments: