China sales of Audi up 23% to 60,509 units in H1

Shanghai, July 4 (Gasgoo.com) Audi, Volkswagen's premium brand division, sold a record 60,509 luxury cars in China in first half of 2008, up 23% from one year earlier, Reuters reported today. The German carmaker plans to boost its capacity in its joint venture in the country to meet local customers' rising demand for its high-end models.

China sales of the German-produced long-wheelbase version of the Audi A6 rose by 18% to 42,969 units and the Chinese-made Audi A4 posted a 20% rise to 10,819 units. Growth rates in the Chinese market for larger, more luxurious Audi models have become even more robust.

The Audi A8 sedan and Q7 full-size SUV (sport utility vehicle), both sold in China as imported Audi cars, saw demand surge. A total of 2,431 units of the Audi A8 were sold in China, 50% more than the previous period, while the Audi Q7 sales rose 90% in the six-month period to 2,663 units.

"We are extremely satisfied with the positive development in our second home market (China) and will continue to enlarge our production capacity," Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler said in a statement on Friday.

Volkswagen's car venture with China's FAW Group plans to add a new Audi assembly line with an annual capacity of 140,000 units. The facility will start operation by late 2009 making Audi A4 and Q6 models. Current Audi capacity at the venture is 100,000 units.

Sales of the Volkswagen premium brand in China rose about 25% year on year to 101,996 vehicles in 2007.