AUDI AG: Sales in Europe up by 4.2 percent in October

· Around 123,600 deliveries worldwide in October (+13.9 percent)

· Sales chief de Meo: “Record sales in China for the whole of 2011 already surpassed in October”

· Updated Audi Q5 strengthening business in Europe

Ingolstadt – AUDI AG started the fourth quarter of the year with another double-digit increase in sales: Thanks in particular to the SUV models Q3, Q5 and Q7, together with the A5 model family, worldwide sales in October were up 13.9 percent year on year, to around 123,600 automobiles. This means some 1,221,150 customers have already purchased a new Audi since January, a rise of 12.9 percent compared with 2011. In October, the Ingolstadt-based carmaker bucked again the market trend in Europe by achieving 4.2 percent growth. Audi’s deliveries continued to grow by well into double figures in the U.S. (+14.5%) and in China, where it gained 29.5 percent last month.

“China remains one of the major growth drivers for Audi: We already surpassed the record total for the whole of last year during this October, and 2012 will see us set a very good new record,” says Luca de Meo, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Sales and Marketing. He added: “Our market share in the Chinese premium segment has further increased since January – also thanks to new models that particularly meet the increasing demand of Chinese customers for individuality and sportiness.”

With the recent introductions of the compact SUV Q3, the A4 allroad quattro and the RS 5 Coupé, Audi has successfully opened up new segments for the brand in China. Across all models, deliveries by the premium manufacturer increased by 31.2 percent since January to 332,959 units; this compares with a total of 313,036 cars for the whole of 2011. The 29.5 percent growth to 35,899 deliveries in October was spearheaded mainly by the Changchun-built models Audi A6 L and Q5.

October saw Audi also achieve clear increase in many other growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region: In South Korea, for example, sales compared with the same month of 2011 were up 62.5 percent; in India, the Q3 launched there in June contributed towards a 76.3 percent rise in sales.

With sales of 11,708 units and a gain of 14.5 percent in the United States, Audi of America enjoyed its 22nd successive record-breaking month in October. The A4 was one of the key drivers of growth there: Demand for the best-selling model in Audi’s U.S. portfolio climbed 20.6 percent to 3,151 cars. Sales of the full-size models A6, A7 Sportback, Q7 and A8 also grew at a double-digit rate, and received an extra lift from the market introduction of the S6, S7 Sportback and S8 model versions in September. The especially sporty S versions of the Audi models traditionally enjoy particularly strong demand among the brand’s U.S. customers. S versions of the Audi TT, A4 and A5 have been on the US market for longer, and nearly one in four customers of the respective model family showed a preference for such a sporty version in recent months.

Strong growth in Canada (+37.6%) and throughout the whole of South America (+55.8%) in October confirmed the dynamic performance of Audi throughout all the Americas. In Brazil alone, where the A1 Sportback has been winning over new customers to the four rings since September, the brand improved on the prior-year month’s deliveries by 82.2 percent with sales of 645 cars.

In Europe, Audi again kept up the growth pattern of recent months in October despite the distinctly negative market environment: Around 60,950 cars – a gain of 4.2 percent – were delivered to customers in the Ingolstadt carmaker’s largest sales region. The recently launched new generation of the Audi Q5 further strengthened sales in Europe.

In the German market, also the Q3 and the A5 model family contributed particularly to a 5.1 percent increase in sales, to 23,450 units. Over the first ten months, the premium manufacturer thus delivered 222,227 automobiles to customers in Germany. This cumulative growth of 7.2 percent compared with the same period of 2011 means that in Germany, too, demand for Audi models developed notably stronger than the market as a whole. In the UK, October brought Audi UK a 19.8 percent rise in deliveries to 9,109 cars; in addition to the Q3 and A5, it made significant progress in the full-size segments. While Audi, too, experienced a further decline in sales totals in the past month in Italy (-14.1% to 3,903 cars) and Spain (-11.8% to 2,561 cars), sales in such markets as Belgium (+16.6% to 2,993 cars) and Turkey (+13.1% to 1,000 cars) increased substantially. The highest growth rate for Audi among the biggest European markets was once again reported by Russia, where sales in October put on 57.1 percent to reach 2,946 deliveries. Russia therefore continues to lead the strong performance for Audi in the whole  of the Eastern Europe region, where the company increased its deliveries from January through October by 31.5 percent to some 48,650 units, putting it on course to exceed sales of 50,000 for the first time ever by the end of this year.

Sales for AUDI AGIn October   Cumulative total   20122011Change from 201120122011Change from 2011World123,600108,518+13.9%1,221,1501,081,672+12.9%Europe60,95058,510+4.2%635,100610,435+4.0%  – Germany23,45022,308+5.1%222,227207,330+7.2%  – UK9,109  7,601+19.8%110,702101,382+9.2%  – France 5,014  5,004+0.2%52,02651,453+1.1%  – Italy3,903  4,545-14.1%42,80451,281-16.5%  – Spain2,576  2,905-11.8%31,99735,383-9.6%  – Russia2,946  1,875+57.1%28,38819,678+44.3%USA11,70810,225+14.5%112,40295,206+18.1%Mexico816  700+16.6%7,266  6,208+17.0%Asia-Pacific42,05032,904+27.8%393,500  305,093+29.0%

  – China

(incl. Hong Kong)

35,89927,729+29.5%332,959  253,739+31.2%  – India850  482+76.3%7,273  4,692+55.0%