JHF
Driving Dynamics Pro
Audi said worldwide first-quarter sales of the Q5 grew 15.6% to about 56,350 units.
MUNICH -- Audi said today it increased global vehicle sales 3 percent in March to a record 147,700 because of strong demand for its SUVs. The Volkswagen Group subsidiary finished the first-quarter will an all-time high of 369,500 sales, up 6.8 percent on the year-ago period.
Worldwide sales of the Q3 SUV rose 58.2 percent in the quarter to about 28,550 units while the Q5 grew by 15.6 percent in the same period to about 56,350 units, Audi said in a statement.
Sales in Audi's core European market fell 3.2 percent last month to 82,800 vehicles, but the luxury carmaker was able to finish the quarter with a 0.7 percent gain to 187,600 vehicles.
Audi benefited from an 8.0 percent rise in UK sales last month to 24,913 vehicles as well as a March increase in Russia of 10.3 percent to 3,753 vehicles. Those results helped Audi have strong first-quarter sales gains in the UK (up 9.7 percent to 39,242) and Russia (up 15.7 percent to 8,278).
In Germany, Audi's March sales fell 1.7 percent to 24,701 vehicles by its first-quarter sales were up 2.0 percent to 59,116.
The world's second-largest premium car manufacturer expects to keep growing.
"We want to continue this positive sales trend over the next months, too," Audi sales boss Luca de Meo said in the statement.
A key to the future growth will be the new A3 Sportback, de Meo said, adding that the automaker is pleased with sales of the compact-sized wagon following its market debut in February.
Other markets
Audi continued its gains in the United States and China. The automaker's U.S. sales rose 14.4 percent to 13,253 vehicles in March. Through three months Audi has delivered 34,186 cars in the United States, a gain of 16.0 percent and a new record for the automaker in the market, where is still trails rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz by a wide margin.
In China, Audi's biggest sales market, the automaker's sales rose 10.7 percent to 34,864 units last month. That helped Audi push it volume above the 100,000-unit mark in the quarter for the first time in its 25 years in that market.
Audi's total deliveries in China through March increased 14.2 percent to 102,810 vehicles. A key to the success was a 36.7 percent sales gain for the A6 L to 36,489 units.
http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbc...sets-march-and-q1-sales-records#axzz2PsMTbXb7
