Audi AG has increased its forecast on its 2011 sales worldwide to 1.3 million units, which is an increase of 100,000 vehicles, according to board member for sales and marketing Peter Schwarzenbauer.
The change in the sales estimate is due to the brisk sales in the first eight months. Last year, the company achieved worldwide sales of 1.1 million vehicles, and originally forecasted 2011 sales of 1.2 million units, Schwarzenbauer disclosed.
He further stated that the company's higher-than-forecasted volume means that it will hit annual sales of 1.5 million units all over the world earlier than the initial target of 2015. The company is on track to outperform Mercedes-Benz as the second bestseller in premium brand this year all over the world.
BMW is the No. 1 bestselling brand since 2005, when it outperformed Mercedes-Benz. Audi's U.S. sales are expected to increase 10 percent in 2011 from last year, when the brand sold 101,629 units, Schwarzenbauer stated.
In the United States, Audi sold 75,256 units during the first eight months of this 2011, an increase of 15 percent from the same period last year and slightly above the 11 percent increase in total U.S. light-vehicle sales during the period.
Schwarzenbauer disclosed that most of the gains in the U.S. were due to the demand for Audi's larger vehicles like the revamped A8, the new A7 and the A6, which comprised 26 percent of the company's sales, an increase from 13 percent in 2008. Schwarzenbauer further stated that China will become the company's largest market in 2011, replacing Germany.
