Sales were down in Germany by 1.5% to 254,000, but Audi nevertheless achieved a record German market share of 7.9%.
Except for Germany, Audi sales grew in all of the company’s key markets including Western Europe with 3% growth and Eastern Europe with 33% growth. The biggest market outside of Europe was China, with 102,000 units sold, up 24%. The next largest market was the US with 93,500 units, up 4%.
Finance director Axel Strotbek says 2007’s highest-ever company profits are “convincing evidence of the healthy and sustained growth of the Audi Group”.
This year Audi expect to exceed 1m vehicle sales, with significant growth from the launch of the A4 Avant. The company plan to expand its model range from the current 25 models to 40 by 2015, when it is targeting sales of 1.5m cars.