Audi brand '09 China sales up 33% to 158,941 units

Shanghai, January 14 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen AG's luxury Audi brand sold 158,941 cars in China last year, up 32.9% from 119,284 units sold in 2008, media reported.

In December, Audi sales in China, the premium German brand's biggest overseas market, rose 76% to 19,069 cars. The company sold 949,700 vehicles worldwide last year, a decline of 5.4% over the record high set in 2008, with December sales down 4.2% to 79,300 cars.

"The fast growth of the Chinese market this year is really unexpected," Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi's management board member for sales and marketing, said last month. "If the market keeps growing like this, our sales are likely to reach 250,000 units in 2012 or 2013," he added.

In China's luxury car market, Audi competes with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Last year, BMW, the world's biggest maker of premium cars, sold 90,536 cars in China, up 38%, while Daimler AG's premium car division Mercedes-Benz sold a record 68,500, up 77%.

Audi now locally produces the A4L and A6L sedans as well as the Q5 SUV at its joint venture of FAW-Volkswagen in northeastern Chinese city of Changchun. It also sells a range of imported models in China, including the A5, A8, Q7, TT and R8.

The company will introduce the A3 and A5 Sportback to China next year. "We will (also) consider the possibility of introducing the A1, depending on how the Chinese market reacts to the A3," said Schwarzenbauer.

Volkswagen AG said last week that the group's sales in China's mainland and Hong Kong last year hit a record 1.4 million units, up 36.7%, retaining its lead in China's passenger car sales.