AUDI AG has increased its worldwide deliveries in July by 3.5 percent year-on-year. With around 154,600 cars sold, the company achieved the highest July sales in its history. Sales increased in all core regions – in Europe by 1.4 percent, in North America by 4.0 percent and in Asia-Pacific by 6.7 percent. China made up the biggest share of gains in the past month, up 10.3 percent to 51,235 customers. In the United States (+2.5%), Audi continued its growth streak despite the clearly negative market environment. Around 1,063,550 worldwide deliveries since January are 3.6 percent below the 2016 reference figure following a challenging beginning of the year. At the start of July, the cumulative figure was still at a negative 4.7 percent.

“With balanced global growth in July, we have achieved a successful start into the second half of the year,” said Dietmar Voggenreiter, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG. “We want to continue this in the coming months. In China, signs returned to point clearly towards growth for Audi. And in more and more markets, we are noticing tailwind from our successful new models.”

The new A5 family and the latest Audi SUV in particular contributed to the global sales growth last month. Around 7,100 Audi Q2 were delivered to customers in July. While the model is being introduced successively in several overseas markets, almost 50,000 customers in Europe alone have already chosen the city SUV this year. The new A5 was launched in China at the end of June and is therefore available now in all major markets. In July, worldwide A5 sales climbed by two thirds compared to the same month last year: up 65.1 percent to around 9,350 cars.

In China, the positive recent trend for Audi was clearly confirmed in July: Deliveries rose by a significant 10.3 percent compared with 2016 and achieved a new record for the month with 51,235 units. Chinese Audi dealers registered rising demand throughout all segments. Since returning to its course of growth in June, Audi has been able to considerably reduce the cumulative year-on-year sales dip: 306,020 units since January are 9.1 percent below the 2016 figure. Following the market introduction of the new A5, two additional highly emotional newcomers will expand the Chinese portfolio of the four rings in the second half of the year: the Audi RS3 Sedan (combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.4 – 8.3 [28.0 – 28.3 US mpg]; combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 191 – 188 [307.4 – 302.6 g/mi]) and the TT RS (combined fuel consumption of the Audi TT RS Coupé in l/100 km: 8.4 – 8.2 [28.0 – 28.7 US mpg]; combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 192 – 187 [309.0 – 300.9 g/mi]).

The new A5 family was also a powerful driving force in the past month for the success of Audi in North America. Deliveries of the model tripled to around 2,800 units in the region. In the USA, Audi sales across all models increased in July by 2.5 percent to 18,824 deliveries. Audi of America has thus continued to achieve growth each month in the year to date despite the negative market environment. With 121,795 US customers since the beginning of the year and a cumulative increase of 5.6 percent, Audi is the only major premium manufacturer to post substantial growth in the market. The A5 Sportback, which became available for the very first time in the USA in May, immediately established as the top-selling variant in the model line. In Canada, the high double-digit growth of the previous months continued for the four rings in July: up 29.7 percent to 3,179 customers. With an increase of 18.4 percent to 21,383 deliveries since January, Audi Canada has now sold more cars within seven months than during all of 2013, just four years ago.

The month also concluded positively for Audi in Europe – around 69,350 customers in July represented further growth of 1.4 percent. Among the region’s major markets, Italy (+16.8% to 7,304 cars), the Netherlands (+17.7% to 1,117 cars) and the United Kingdom (+10.8% to 12,806 cars) stood out with double-digit growth. In the United Kingdom, business for Audi continues to develop much more robustly than the declining overall market. Since January, Audi has delivered 102,810 cars to British customers, 1.3 percent more than a year ago, observing very positive response to the Q2 in this market as well. In the whole of Europe, where the generation changeover for the Q5 was first initiated, the high demand for the second generation of this SUV model is also increasingly reflected in the overall sales balance: In July, around 7,300 Audi Q5 delivered to customers in Europe exceeded the previous year’s figure by 19.5 percent.

The Audi Group, with its brands Audi, Ducati and Lamborghini, is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the premium segment. It is present in more than 100 markets worldwide and produces at 16 locations in 12 countries.

The current Middle East model range comprises the Audi A3 & S3 Sedan and RS 3 Sedan/Sportback, A4 and S4, the A5/S5 Coupe, Cabriolet and RS 5 Coupe and Cabriolet, the A6, S6, RS 6 performance, A7, S7, RS 7 & RS 7 performance, A8, A8 L, S8 & S8 plus, the Audi Q2, Q3, RS Q3 performance, Q5 & SQ5, Q7 and the Audi TT Coupe/Roadster, TTS Coupe, TT RS Coupe, the Audi R8 Coupe, R8 Coupe V10 plus as well as the R8 V10 Spyder. — SG