Good news coming in from Audi public relations team as they announce a rise in global sales. Sadly that sentiment of joy cannot be experienced by Audi Malaysia as local sales figures are hardly making a dent against the rising popularity of Volvo and Lexus and the commanding market share of BMW and Mercedes-Benz in Malaysia.
AUDI AG delivered around 163,350 cars (+23.1%) to customers worldwide last month, more than ever before in a single month of November. Apart from the strong growth in Europe (+33.0%), which is still due to prior-year effects, record figures in the core regions of North America (+17.3%) and China (+16.8%) contributed to the new record-breaking figure. In turn, the company also exceeded the prior-year cumulative figures for the first time since the start of the year: From January through November the brand with the Four Rings delivered around 1,669,600 premium automobiles (+0.7%).
“Our model initiative is gaining traction globally at the year-end,” says Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG. “North America has been reaping the benefits of the full availability of the new Audi Q3 for the past few months; the two electric models, the Audi e-tron and Audi Q2 L e-tron*, as well as the Audi Q8 bolstered our portfolio in November in China. Despite the increasingly difficult environment, we therefore still expect our deliveries to customers to perform robustly and to see slight growth for 2019 as a whole.”
Deliveries in Europe increased to around 707,650 cars since January, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent. The sharp increase of 33.0 percent to around 58,300 units in November is once again also down to prior-year effects associated with the WLTP switchover and model changeovers. In Germany, Audi handed over 19,526 cars to customers in November, an increase of 24.3 percent. Deliveries rose 4.1 percent to 253,443 cars since January. The Audi Q3 (23,303 cars, +67.7%), the Audi A6 (41,899, +18.4%) and the Audi Q8 (5,751 cars, +131.2%) contributed positively to growth in the domestic market.
The North America region saw deliveries increase in November to a new record-breaking figure of 25,230 cars (+17.3%), with around 241,100 vehicles delivered to customers (-3.3%) since the start of the year. In the United States, deliveries increased by 20.7 percent to 20,618 cars in November. Audi delivered 198,261 cars in the United States since January, almost on a par with the prior-year figure (-1.1%). Deliveries in Canada were once again up in November (3,416 cars, +4.4%), with the company delivering 31,829 cars (-10.0%) since the start of the year. Both countries generated strong demand in November for the new Audi Q3, which went on sale in July, (USA: 2,497 cars, +256.7%; Canada: 929 cars; +231.8%) along with the new Audi Q8, which remains market leader in its segment.
In China, 67,402 cars delivered (+16.8%) in November set a new record-breaking figure. Cumulative deliveries were up 3.5 percent to 618,596 units. Growth was driven in part by the high demand for the A6 L (16,559 cars; +9.3%). The Audi Q2 L was also introduced in China as an all-electric model in November. Apart from the locally produced Audi Q2 L e-tron, the Audi e-tron also went on sale in China in the middle of last month.
