Inside the Audi November U.S. Sales Momentum Story

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The sales momentum Audi has built throughout the year showed no signs of easing as the brand set a November sales record, increased its market share, established 2010 as the second-best year in its U.S. history with a month to go and stayed on pace to top 100,000 vehicles sold in America for the first time.

"We have a high degree of confidence that 2010 will indeed be a year to celebrate a new U.S. sales record that will provide added  momentum as we enter 2011," said Mark Del Rosso, Chief Operating Officer, Audi of America. "These breakthroughs for the Audi brand haven't happened overnight. They have resulted from millions of dollars invested by our dealer partners in recent years, an Audi culture that constantly seeks improvements and the most progressive, high demand vehicle line up."

November marked the eighth month of record U.S. monthly sales this year, and the fourth pacesetting month in a row. A deeper look at the sales data from Audi and its competitors for the month shows a range of added highlights for the Audi brand:

Improved U.S. market share

After all of the imported luxury brands selling vehicles in the U.S. reported their results for the month, Audi stood with the second-highest share of the market in its history. Only in April 2010 did Audi achieve a higher share than the 9.5% that it held in November. For the month, Audi sales increased nearly 38% in November -- one of the biggest percentage gains in the imported luxury sector. The U.S. market share record set by Audi  was 9.6% of the imported luxury vehicle market in April.

Strong start for redesigned 2011 Audi A8

Audi dealers in the U.S. received shipments of their redesigned 2011 Audi A8 luxury sedans by the end of November. But that was still enough time to fill higher-than-expected customer orders for the new Audi flagship. November wound up as the top month for Audi A8 sales in 2010 with 310 cars sold in the month's final days.(Audi sold 23 of the previous-generation Audi A8 in November as it completed the model changeover). Looking ahead, demand looks strong for the new A8 with 50% of the models heading to the U.S. for the remainder of 2010 attached to customer sales orders.

Other noteworthy November story lines

• U.S. consumers are recognizing the benefits of clean diesel technology: Sales of the Audi A3 line more than doubled with Audi A3 TDI models constituting a record 69% of the A3 sales mix for the month. Overall Audi A3 sales in the U.S. set a November record.
• The best-selling Audi models continue to see high demand: Sales of the Audi Q5 leaped 53% in November – nearly enough to make it the best-selling model in the Audi lineup. The Audi A4, however, remained the No.1 Audi model with its sales increasing a solid 12% for the month.
• Audi sports cars are performing: Consumers were clearly attracted to Audi performance models with sales of the 354-hp Audi S5 coupe making up 24.35 of the A5/S5 line sales for the month. The Audi S5 Cabriolet made up another 23.7% of the line's sales mix. The Audi S4 sedan, named as Esquire magazine's 2010 Car of the Year, made up 14.3% of the Audi A4/S4 high-volume sales mix to exceed original expectations. And demand for the Audi R8 supercar line jumped 86%, spurred by sales of the all-new Audi R8 Spyder.
• Audi Certified Pre-owned sales continue to run strong: One of the limitations to the Audi momentum story in 2010 has been availability of popular models as the success of the brand has built in the U.S. that has led to a steady increase this year in Audi certified Pre-Owned vehicles. The most recent month set the second-best November U.S. sales for Audi CPO cars and SUVs. November 2010 CPO sales increased 44% from a year earlier

With the 9,365 new vehicle sales in November, Audi sold 91,083 vehicles through the first 11 months of the year. That left it just 2,423 vehicles behind the all-time U.S. sales mark of 93,506 vehicles sold in 2007.

For the complete chart on Audi November U.S. sales, please visit www.audiusanews.com.

ABOUT AUDI

Audi of America, Inc. and its 275 U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. During 2009 Audi outsold all other luxury brands in Europe, while in the U.S. market Audi posted the largest market share gain of any luxury automotive brand. Between 2010 and 2012 the Audi Group is planning to invest around euro 5.5 billion, mainly in new products, in order to sustain the Company's technological lead.  Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.

SOURCE Audi of America, Inc.