AUDI AG delivered around 151,900 premium automobiles to customers worldwide in May. As such, deliveries were down 5.4 percent year-on-year. In Western Europe, the company closed the month over last year (+1.5%); the increase in demand in the domestic market Germany (+3.5%) and in France (+12.2%) made a positive contribution. In China (-7.4%) and North America (-5.7%) the model changeovers of important high-volume models continued to have a detrimental effect on deliveries. In the first five months the Four Rings handed over 5.8 percent less than in the same period in 2018.
“In light of the positive feedback to our model initiative, we are confident and expect to see a boost in deliveries particularly in the second half of the year,” says Martin Sander, Vice President Global Marketing and Sales of AUDI AG. “Customers in Europe have recently been able to order the new and even sportier Audi A4 models and the S4, S5, S6 and S7 models with a TDI engine. Orders are now being accepted for the Audi Q5 55 TFSI e* as first car of our plug-in-offensive.”
In Western Europe, Audi sold around 68,500 cars in May, coming above the prior-year level (+1.5%). Among the large markets in the region, Germany (+3.5% to 26,457 cars) and France (+12.2% to 5,347 cars) in particular saw deliveries grow compared with the same month in 2018. Demand fell in the UK with 12,641 units delivered (-7.8%).
The interest for the new Audi Q3 continues apace in Western Europe. The new generation of the compact SUV is an important growth driver. Deliveries of the Q3 rose above-average in May in countries such as Germany (+94.8% to 2,967 cars), the UK (+27.1% to 1,391 cars) or France (+160.5% to 1,430 cars). Across all models, the cumulative deliveries in the region after five months were still down 4.4 percent at around 324,200 units. The ongoing generation changeover and knock-on effects of the WLTP transition continued to dampen the deliveries balance.
In the United States, 18,892 units delivered represent a decrease of 2.2 percent. Following the discontinuation of the Q3, the brand with the Four Rings does not offer a compact SUV in the U.S. market at present. The new generation of the sporty off-roader will be available in dealerships in the summer. The new full-size models performed well. Demand increased 26.2 percent for the Audi A6 to 1,427 cars and 75.9 percent for the A7 to 526 cars. In the North America region the company delivered around 23,400 premium automobiles in May, 5.7 percent less than a year ago.
Business in May in China continued to be adversely affected by the challenges of the ongoing model changeovers with the important A6 L and Q3 volume models. Since the beginning of 2019 the ongoing tariff dispute also provoked general uncertainty among Chinese customers. Consequently, deliveries since January fell by 1.9 percent to 253,625 automobiles, and by 7.4 percent to 47,927 units in May. Despite the competitive market environment, the long version of the A4 continued to perform well, managing to grow once again (+9.2% to 14,102 units). The A8 L is also extremely popular among customers in the Middle Kingdom and closed May with 736 automobiles sold (+87.3%).