Sunday, April 19, 2009

Audi Celebrates Best Month Ever in China

Year-on-year sales growth of seven percent in March
Audi A4L makes a very successful start on the market
Audi will unveil the new generation Audi Q7 at the “Auto Shanghai 2009” show

AUDI AG achieved its best monthly results yet for the Chinese market in March 2009. Including Hong Kong, 11,848 vehicles were sold – a seven-percent increase over March 2008. This record performance is due in particular to the long-wheelbase version of the Audi A4, produced exclusively for the Chinese market and available since January 2009.

“We are pleased with this healthy growth in China, our second home market,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. “These successful sales figures make us confident about the rest of the year.”

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Volkswagen First-Quarter Sales Fall 11% on U.S., Audi Declines

Shrinking European and U.S. car markets have prompted Volkswagen and other automakers to scale back production and eliminate temporary jobs. With vehicle deliveries projected to drop 10 percent this year from 2008’s record of 6.23 million because of the recession, Volkswagen is bracing for a first- quarter loss.

The sales drop was held back by gains in countries where governments are offering incentives for car purchases, and the introduction of new models will allow Volkswagen to “perform significantly better than the competition in 2009,” Detlef Wittig, the company’s sales chief, said in the statement.

Declines in European car-industry sales, including deliveries by PSA Peugeot Citroen, the region’s second-biggest automaker, and Fiat SpA, Italy’s biggest, slowed to 9 percent in March, the smallest drop in six months, as incentives encouraged trade-ins, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said yesterday.

Volkswagen-brand sales fell to 876,000 cars and SUVs, the company said today. Global deliveries at the Audi luxury division fell 11 percent in March to 90,400 vehicles, the unit said on April 6. Group figures also include the Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini car divisions, the commercial- vehicles unit and, as of March, Scania AB trucks.

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