Audi continues to grow in North America in May

The FINANCIAL — In May, AUDI AG delivered around 159,600 cars to customers, 2.8 percent less than in the same month in 2016.

Around 738,300 deliveries over the first five months of the year represent a decrease of 5.9 percent worldwide. Despite the downturn of the total U.S. market, Audi managed to further increase sales in the United States in May too, achieving substantial growth in North America overall since the start of the year (+6.6%). In China, the sales balance for the past month (-4.0%) was still influenced by the negotiations on future collaboration, which have now been brought to a successful conclusion. The intended comprehensive deal was sealed in the second half of the month. The Chinese Audi dealers reported 48,012 units delivered in May, the highest monthly sales figure in the year to date, according to Volkswagen.

“The breakthrough achieved with our partners in China opens the door for us to the market potential of the next decade. And it gives us a positive outlook for developments over the next few months,” says Dietmar Voggenreiter, Board member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG.“The last few days of May have already shown that we will see sales recover rapidly in China and that we will quickly get back to our former market position.”

Due to substantial falls over the past few months, sales in the Chinese market are down 15.2 percent year-on-year since January. For the month of May, deliveries were 4.0 percent below the 2016 figure. With 48,012 deliveries, Audi already managed to sell around a quarter more units in May than the monthly average total from January through April. In the first five months of the year, a total of 202,885 Chinese customers received keys for their new Audi.

In Western Europe, Audi sales increased slightly by 1.0 percent since the start of the year to around 357,750 cars. Sales of around 71,500 units in the past month were up 0.9 percent yearon-year. “The stable development in Europe is pleasing given the model changeovers for the A5 and Q5, as well as the very positive trend in our order balance,” says Voggenreiter. In particular,the ongoing model changeover for the Audi Q5 currently still has a dampening effect on deliveries. Engine variants will successively be available at dealerships for the much sought-after new edition of the SUV bestseller. The Q2 successfully opens up a new SUV segment for Audi: In Western Europe alone, around 33,750 customers decided to buy the all-new premium compact SUV in the first five months of the year. Across all models, Audi set a new record for cumulative sales in Germany (+0.8% to 139,297 cars). In May, the Four Rings closed the month on a par with 2016, up 0.3 percent to 28,118 units. France (+7.6% to 5,630 cars in the month) and the Southern European core markets in particular provided a positive impetus for Audi in the pastmonth. In Italy, the brand’s sales were up another 5.5 percent to 5,826 customers in May. The books reflect cumulative growth of 9.0 percent with a total of 28,676 cars sold. Spain reported 5.8 percent growth to 5,141 units for May; 25,060 cars sold since January represent a year on year increase of 5.7 percent.

In the United States, Audi sales once again grew in the past month despite the declining overall market. Deliveries increased by 2.5 percent to 19,197 in May. The success of the Audi Q7 is a keyfactor in the substantial growth for the brand since the turn of the year (+6.5% to 83,555 cars). The full-size SUV continued to progress significantly in its largest sales market in May, with sales up 12.3 percent to 13,618 U.S. customers since January. The high level of demand for the Q family’s current top model ensures that in Canada Audi is making the largest gains overall ofany of its major markets, with cumulative sales up 14.7 percent to 14,347 units. With the successful local market launch of the new A5 Sportback, May (+16.6% to 3,852 cars) was the strongest sales month ever in Audi history in Canada. For the region of North America as awhole, around 103,500 deliveries since January equate to growth of 6.6 percent; about24,400 customers in May represent an increase of 4.6 percent.