(January 17, 2013) It was a record-breaking year for Audi in 2012. The company sold 1,455,100 premium cars worldwide, 11.7 per cent more than in the previous year. In the United States Audi established a new sales record in every month and further accelerated growth from 2011.

By the end of 2012, 139,310 cars had been shipped to the U.S., 18.5 per cent more than in the previous year.

Within the space of five years, Audi of America has thus increased the four rings’ customer base in the United States by almost 50 per cent from 2007 deliveries which numbered 93,506 cars.

2012 saw the models in the prestigious executive and luxury classes in particular give Audi a further boost in the U.S. market. Combined sales of the A6, the A7 Sportback, the Q7 and the flagship model A8 were up 39 per cent. Sales of the A6 sedan alone, the new generation of which was available at U.S. dealers for its first full year in 2012, climbed to 18,998 units, a rise of 73.7 per cent on the prior-year total.



Audi’s sales performance in the two other countries of the North American region was similarly impressive. In Canada sales were up 18.6 per cent at 20,000 cars, and in Mexico up 17.7 per cent at 9,482.

United Kingdom sales numbered 123,622, an increase of 8.6 per cent year-on-year which establishes another sales record for the importer.

The outstanding worldwide sales result decisively surpasses the annual target of 1.4 million cars announced by the Vorsprung durch Technik brand in the summer of 2012 thanks to the strong growth rates in North America and Asia. With deliveries exceeding the previous year's figure by more than 152,000, this was Audi's second-highest jump in sales in the history of the company.

“In 2012, Audi achieved new record totals in every region worldwide, including in Europe. We managed to buck the negative market trend and continued to grow there, extending our lead as the strongest premium brand,” says Luca de Meo, mMember of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Sales and Marketing.

“Worldwide, our new models in particular gave us an extra lift over the past year, most notably the very popular Audi Q3. It has helped the entire Audi SUV family become a mainstay of our success, now accounting for one-quarter of all deliveries for the first time.”

The global rollout of the Q3 began in October 2011, so 2012 was its first full year on the market. In Europe alone, Audi handed over around 78,700 examples of the compact SUV to customers over the past year. Another model which has been on sale since the autumn of 2011, and which has provided a strong stimulus on the brand’s home continent, is the Audi A6 Avant. Around 60 per cent of A6 customers in Europe opt for the wagon version of the executive class model.

A6 Avant sales in the region rose by 38.9 per cent to around 63,100 cars in 2012. Across all models, AUDI AG sold around 739,000 cars in Europe in the past year, thus advancing by a further 1.8 per cent amid a difficult market environment.