source: Audi AG
- Model changeovers and challenging market environment impact deliveries to customers
- Vice President Global Marketing and Sales Martin Sander: “Renewal of our product range still requires a major effort”
- Deliveries down 5.9 percent since the start of the year
AUDI AG delivered around 140,300 cars to customers worldwide in April, down 12.8 percent year-on-year. Model changeovers affecting volume models such as the Audi A6 continued to have an adverse effect. The new Audi Q3 has developed its potential in Europe so far, with strong growth in countries such as France (+109.0%) or Germany (+97.6%); in other markets such as the United States, the model will only be available in dealerships from the middle of the year. Since the start of the year worldwide deliveries were down 5.9 percent to 587,550 automobiles.
“The renewal of our product range still requires a major effort,” says Martin Sander, Vice President Global Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG. “The success of the new Audi Q3 in Europe is one example that shows we’re on the right track here. In the course of the year we’ll continue to roll out this and numerous other models internationally. These include the new Audi Q3 Sportback or the extensively updated Audi A4.”
In China, 205,698 customers have decided to buy an Audi since the start of the year, equivalent to a 0.5 percent decrease. Deliveries of 46,364 cars in April were 11.5 percent down on the 2018 record-breaking figure. Changeovers with volume models such as the A6 L dampened deliveries to customers. The second generation of the Audi Q3 at the Auto Shanghai show was not unveiled to the public until early April. Demand for models such as the Audi A4 (14,221 cars, +11.9%), the A5 (1,424 cars, +133.1%) or the Audi Q7 (1,391 cars, +24.0%) developed positively.
In the United States, Audi delivered 15,024 cars (-21.4%) in April. Model start-ups and discontinuations, such as with the Audi Q3, and the general reluctance to buy in the premium market were notable factors here. Among others, the Audi A7 (441 cars, +57.5%) boosted deliveries to customers. In mid-April, the A7 Sportback won the coveted “2019 World Luxury Car” award at the New York Auto Show. As such, the A7 Sportback replaced the Audi A8 as the best rated new luxury automobile in the global market. 63,139 customers (-8.7%) decided to buy an Audi since the start of the year in the United States. In the region of North America the company delivered around 76,800 premium automobiles since January, down 10.3 percent year-on-year. Around 19,400 cars (-20.2%) were delivered in the region in April.
With around 66,900 cars delivered in April, Europe was down 7.8 percent year-on-year. Audi delivered around 271,100 cars on the home continent (-6.0%) since the start of the year. Germany closed April with deliveries down 10.5 percent to 23,893 cars. Cumulative deliveries in the domestic market totaled 100,656 cars (-3.1%).
