Last week, the company presented its latest Q model at the Audi China Brand Summit in Shenzhen: the new Audi Q8. “This premium SUV is a perfect addition to the full-size segment and is the next coup in our model initiative. Particularly in the core markets China and USA, the car will be an important sales driver and strengthen our market position,” says Bram Schot, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG.
The Audi Q8 will go on sale from the third quarter in Europe, end of 2018 in the United States and in the first half of 2019 in China. With global growth of 10.9 percent in the first five months, SUV models are the fastest-growing segment of the brand with the Four Rings. Audi has sold around 287,500 Q models since January, with SUVs currently accounting for 36.6 percent of sales. By the year 2025, one in every two Audi vehicles delivered will be an SUV. The company is already meeting this target with last month’s sales figures in North America, where the Q family accounts for around 51 percent of sales. This vehicle category accounts for 33 percent of deliveries in Europe and 34 percent in China. The most successful member of the Q family is the Audi Q5 with around 125,750 deliveries in the year to date. In May alone, sales of the model increased by a further 16.0 percent year-on-year, to around 24,700 cars.
The most Audi Q5 SUVs with 9.929 units were delivered in the individual market China. The new, locally produced long-wheelbase version of the model recently went on sale at Chinese dealers. Around one in five Chinese customers opted for the premium SUV since January. Across all models, Audi delivered 51,732 automobiles in the Middle Kingdom last month, up 7.7 percent. Company sales increased 27.4 percent since January. With 258,413 units, Audi sold more vehicles than ever before in the first five months of a year in China.
The Asia-Pacific region performed above average since the start of 2018. Audi sales grew by 25.7 percent to 289.400 cars. Around 58.200 units (+9.3%) were delivered in the past month.
In North America, sales in May built on the high level of 2017 (+1.6% to around 24,800 cars) despite the declining overall market. With 4,207 deliveries and sales up 9.2 percent, Audi Canada once again achieved a successful month. In the United States, 19,315 units sold represent an increase of 0.6 percent. Since the start of the year, the company increased its sales by 5.9 percent to 88,471 automobiles. The Audi Q7 performed well in the past month, particularly in the U.S. market (+5.5% to 3,217 cars). Since the start of the year, sales of the full-size SUV have increased in the United States by 6.9 percent to around 14,559 units.
Business in May in Europe continued to be affected by the imminent model changeovers. As such, the result of around 72,150 cars is down 5.2 percent year-on-year. Cumulative sales since the start of the year are down 4.7 percent. In Germany, 25,574 customers decided to buy from the Four Rings last month, 9.0 percent less than a year ago. By contrast, Italy grew with 6,381 deliveries (+9.5%). In Europe, customer interest in the Q2 remains strong. Since January, the demand for the city SUV increased by 9.0% to around 38,250 units. This makes the Q2 the most popular Audi SUV on the home continent.
Sales AUDI AG
In May
Cumulative
2018
2017
Change from 2017
2018
2017
Change from 2017
World
160,600
159,575
+0.7%
785,300
738,136
+6.4%
Europe
72,150
76,102
-5.2%
360,700
378,432
-4.7%
– Germany
25,574
28,118
-9.0%
129,488
139,297
-7.0%
– UK
13,709
13,824
-0.8%
74,730
74,786
-0.1%
– France
4,764
5,629
-15.4%
22,770
27,086
-15.9%
– Italy
6,381
5,826
+9.5%
28,758
28,676
+0.3%
– Spain
5,241
5,141
+1.9%
25,843
25,060
+3.1%
USA
19,315
19,197
+0.6%
88,471
83,555
+5.9%
Mexico
1,282
1,356
-5.5%
5,755
5,601
+2.7%
Brazil
864
736
+17.4%
3,473
3,646
-4.7%
Chinese mainland + Hong Kong
51,732
48,012
+7.7%
258,413
202,885
+27.4%