Audi China Jan sales more than double to 16,798 cars

Shanghai, February 9 (Gasgoo.com) Audi AG, the leader in the China's luxury car segment, saw its sales in China more than doubled last month to 16,798 cars from 7,816 of a year earlier, media reported.

Audi, the premium brand and key earnings contributor of Volkswagen AG, sold around 160,000 cars in China last year, up 33%. This compares with around 90,500 sales at BMW and around 70,000 at Mercedes-Benz, up 38% and 65% respectively.

Audi sold more cars in China last month than on the company's home turf in Germany, where the automaker's January sales rose 9.3% to 11,657 cars. Its global sales increased 39% last month amid strong demand in China, outpacing No. 2 luxury-car nameplate Mercedes-Benz.

China's luxury car market has been dominated by three rivaling German automakers. Last month, BMW's 122% growth (to 11,919 cars) outpaced Audi's 115%, but was behind Mercedes-Benz's 147% (at 8,400 units). Audi's sales of 16,798 cars still led the market.

Audi's strong presence in the dynamic Chinese market and a smaller exposure to the troubled U.S. market than its rivals helped the company to narrow the gap to its German peers amid last year's market downturn.

Audi plans to further expand its production capacity in China to meet its target of selling 250,000 cars annually by 2012 or 2013, Johannes Thammer, general manager of the Audi sales division at FAW Volkswagen, said recently.