VOLKSWAGEN’S luxury unit Audi says sales rose 14.1 per cent in March to a record 143,500 vehicles, maintaining the car maker’s lead over Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz brand. First-quarter deliveries at Audi gained 10.8 per cent to 346,100 units, compared with 341,000 at Mercedes-Benz.
BMW, the world’s biggest luxury car maker, sold more than 400,000 vehicles between January and March.
“We entered . . . 2012 very successfully and also expect continuing growth in coming months,” Audi sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said in a statement.
Audi overtook Mercedes-Benz as the second-largest premium brand by vehicle sales last year and has surpassed BMW in terms of profitability, thanks to the economies of scale it enjoys with its parent VW.
Sales in China, where Audi leads the luxury market, increased 37 per cent last month to 31,505 cars, on demand for extended versions of the A4 and A6 sedans and the Q5 sport-utility vehicle. Year-to-date deliveries surged 40.5 per cent to a record 25,941, while US sales gained 18 per cent in March to 11,585, totalling 29,470 in the first three months. – (Reuters)