Audi Group: after first quarter key financial figures continue on high level

· Audi Group posts revenue of €11.734 billion and an operating profit of €1.307 billion for first quarter

· Board Member for Finance Axel Strotbek: “Despite the difficult economic environment and our substantial advance payments, we achieved an operating return on sales of 11.1 percent.”

· Audi continues to grow: new A3 Sedan to appear in showrooms in Fall 2013

Ingolstadt – Although the economic climate has deteriorated further in a number of European countries, Audi enjoyed a very successful opening quarter with some 369,500 deliveries to customers. With €11.734 billion revenue for the first three months of 2013 the Ingolstadt-based carmaker nearly matched the previous year’s record level. The operating profit of €1.307 billion translates into an operating return on sales of 11.1 percent – well above the strategic target corridor of eight to ten percent. Despite ongoing economic uncertainties, Audi is pushing ahead with its growth strategy and investing heavily in the future. The company all the while remains committed to its target corridor for operating return on sales.

“Despite the difficult economic environment and our substantial advance payments, we have achieved an operating return on sales of 11.1 percent,” declared Axel Strotbek, AUDI AG Board Member for Finance and Organization, upon release of the Q1 Interim Report in Ingolstadt. He added that Audi plans on spending a substantial amount on new products and technologies throughout 2013. Moreover, according to Mr. Strotbek, the brand with the four rings will expand its worldwide production network to pave the way for further growth.

From January through March 2013, the Audi brand delivered 369,494

(2012: 346,105) vehicles worldwide, besting the previous year’s record total by 6.8 percent. Audi enjoyed sales growth in Europe, Asia and North America alike.  Models that generated considerable interest among customers included the new A3, the A1 Sportback and the A4 model line as well as the Q3 and Q5 SUVs.

At €11.734 billion, Q1 2013 revenue for the Audi Group almost equaled the record of €12.389 billion set in 2012. Against a backdrop of increased expenditures for new products and technologies – as well as considerable advance payments toward expanding Audi’s international production network – the Audi Group achieved an operating profit of €1.307 (2012: 1.410) billion. This equates to a year-on-year drop of 7.3 percent. Nevertheless, the operating return on sales of 11.1 (2012: 11.4) percent once again exceeded the strategic target corridor of eight to ten percent.

The first three months of the year saw the Audi Group earn €1.432 (2012: €1.511) billion pre-tax – almost on par with the corresponding period of the previous year. This resulted in a pre-tax return on sales of 12.2 (2012: 12.2) percent.

Audi intends to sell even more vehicles this year than in 2012. Sales will likely rise once more thanks to the new A3 and the A3 Sportback as well as the A3 Sedan, which made its world debut just a few days ago in Shanghai. The Audi Group anticipates that more deliveries will lead to slight revenue growth. Due to increased expenditures for new products and the expansion of Audi’s worldwide production network, the company expects an operating return on sales of nearly ten percent for this fiscal year.

First Quarter Report 2013 (publication 10:00 a.m. CEST)
www.audi.com/quarterly-report2013_q1
www.audi.de/zwischenmitteilung2013_q1 (German)