Audi April global car sales down 5.6% on year

German carmaker AUDI AG said Friday sales fell 5.6% on the year in April, less than the decline experienced by competitors.

"We have been receiving more orders thanks to new models like the Audi Q5, the recently launched A5 Cabriolet, and the A4 2.0 TDI e - the most efficient standard-size model on the market, emitting just 119 g/km CO2 (191.51 g/mile)," says Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG.

"We're moving in the right direction. We're en route to meeting our target of 900,000 vehicles sold this year," emphasizes Mr. Schwarzenbauer.

In Western Europe, Audi sold some 52,650 autos in April, a drop of 8.9% (2008: 57,789). From Jan. to April, the Ingolstadt-based company sold approximately 190,600 vehicles, for a year-on-year decrease of 15.5%. The brand thus fared much better than its key competitors and the overall market. The latest estimates show that market share rose in April to 4.7% (2008: 4.6%).

Audi also captured additional country-specific market shares in Western Europe. The trend was especially encouraging in Italy (+7.4% to 5,164 autos) and Austria (+42.0% to 2,005 autos). In Switzerland, the brand with the four rings sold 1,739 vehicles for a year-on-year increase of 14.2%.

Audi increased sales in Asia/Pacific to some 14,950 vehicles - a rise of 16.7% compared with the same month a year ago (2008: 12,819). The Ingolstadt-based manufacturer once again broke its sales record for China (including Hong Kong). Deliveries to customers there rose in April by 21.2% to 12,156 vehicles. This solidifies the clear position of Audi as market leader in China's premium segment. Sales also increased in markets such as Australia (818 autos, up 6.0%) and South Korea (509 autos, up 11.1%).

Though U.S. sales dropped by 9.3% to 7,010 vehicles (2008: 7,730), the company's performance was vastly superior to that of key competitors and the market in general. Audi was thus able to increase its market share in the premium segment by 2.6 percentage points to 9.2%. Last but not least, the Canadian market also bore fruit. Audi sold 1,251 units in Canada for a year-on-year increase of some 11%.