China to be No.1 market for Audi in 2012 -executive

Shanghai, October 28 (Gasgoo.com) Audi AG will exceed its sales target in China this year and expects the country to outpace the German luxury carmaker's home turf as its largest single market in 2012 or 2013 at the latest, Dow Jones reported today, citing an Audi executive.

"Today we're at 118,000 car sales already. We're on track to significantly surpass our initial target in China this year (of 130,000 car sales)," Audi's executive board member responsible for sales and marketing, Peter Schwarzenbauer, told Dow Jones in the latest interview.

Audi, a premium car brand of Volkswagen AG, will launch its A3 hatchback in China next year as part of a wider move to attract a broader customer base in this fast-growing market, in addition to the new Q5 small SUV currently being rolled out worldwide.

Ranking third behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz in terms of global luxury car sales, Audi keeps a firm grip on the pole position in the crucial Chinese market, which it gained thanks partly to an early market entry of its parent company.

Last month, Audi saw its China sales increase 37% year-on-year to more than 15,000 cars, achieving a monthly high ever in the country. From January to September, the company sold 108,859 cars in the Chinese market, up 20% from a year earlier.

Audi's annual sales in China might soar to 250,000 cars by 2012 or 2013, making the country the largest market for this luxury car maker, who is set to expand its local product lineup, production capacity and dealership network, the executive said.