Audi records best ever first quarter sales in its history

Parent company Volkswagen may still be reeling from the aftershocks of the Dieselgate scandal and the numerous recalls in the last few months, but its luxury arm Audi is going gangbusters across the world. The company has posted its best first quarter in its history along with the most successful sales month during March 2016. In just the last month, Audi’s global sales increased by 4.6 percent to a monthly high of around 186,100, bringing the cumulative sales in the first quarter to around 455,750 cars, up 4 percent year-on-year.

Among the best-selling models of Audi is the new A4 that was recently launched in the United States, where it recorded 36.3 percent higher sales in the month-to-month comparison. Overall sales in the region for Q1 are up by 5.6 percent. However, Europe is still the strongest market for Audi, as the brand managed to sell 222,350 units on the continent in the last three months. This was fueled primarily by double digit growth rates from Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Not far behind in the sales race are Audi’s luxury SUVs – the Q7 and Q3 – both of which posted record highs in the last quarter. Sales of the Audi Q7 soared 92.6% to 3,004 vehicles sold for the month, as buyers responded positively to a new design. Additionally, the 2017 Q7 earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Sales of the Audi Q3 rose 18.7% to 1,505 vehicles.

Speaking on the achievement, an elated Dietmar Voggenreiter, Sales and marketing boss at Audi AG, said 2016 could not have got off on a better note. “The record start to 2016 is evidence of our global brand strength and of the success of our entire range of models, most notably the new Audi A4 and the new Q7.”

“The strong demand in the first quarter confirms that we are on the right track to achieving another sales record for the full year in 2016,” he added.

Audi has also seen sales increase in China since the beginning of the year. Total sales in the market were up by 4.7 percent to 139,540 units. Last month 50,986 cars were sold to customers in China, an increase of 5.4 percent. Audi Certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles also set a new March sales record, with a 9.5% gain and 4,251 vehicles sold.