Audi delivered around 155,350 automobiles to customers worldwide last month. This represents a decrease of 6.1 percent compared with the same period last year when extraordinary effects in connection with WLTP had a major impact on deliveries. In July 2018, the sale of models in stock particularly in Europe had contributed to exceptionally high growth in deliveries. In China, the four rings continued their run of success in July 2019: The most important individual market closed last month with a new record of 56,365 cars delivered (+6.0%). In the United States, Audi has increased deliveries in July as well (+0.8%). Since the start of the year, Audi has delivered around 1,061,550 cars worldwide (-4.8%).
“The challenges of the switch to WLTP caused unusual fluctuations in deliveries last year,” says Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG. “Thanks to the early preparation for the WLTP 2nd act and our ongoing model initiative, we’re now returning to calmer waters and have managed to clearly stabilize the sales situation. We expect our deliveries to perform positively in the second half of the year.”
In response to the switch to the WLTP test cycle and the Audi model initiative, last year the company had adjusted supplies to its dealer and sales network with a view to the future and stocked up the markets. In this way, Audi managed to compensate for restrictions in its freely configurable portfolio which occurred temporarily due to the WLTP switch and model changeovers. The sale of models in stock contributed to exceptionally high delivery figures in July 2018. As such, Germany, for instance, just reported the second-best July in Audi history (26,962 cars) after 2018, with deliveries down 17.0 percent. Despite the strong prior-year figures, demand for the Audi Q3 (+36.4%) and the Audi TT (+93.4%) grew here. Audi delivered 179,393 cars (-5.4%) in its domestic market in the first seven months.
In the region of Europe as a whole, deliveries fell year-on-year by 13.3 percent in July to around 68,750 units due to the aforementioned factors. Cumulative deliveries totaled around 488,250 (-5.9%). Deliveries to customers were up 6.9 percent in Italy or up 2.4 percent in the Netherlands in July, for example.
China continued to set records in July following the strong result in June, with deliveries up 6.0 percent to 56,365 cars. The brand’s flagship, the Audi A8 L (+21.2%), accounted for part of this increase. Demand for the top-selling Audi model in the Middle Kingdom, the A4 L, remained strong, up by 3.7 percent. In the first half of the year, the A4 L had already managed to race ahead of the competition in China as the bestselling premium sedan.
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In the United States, Audi increased deliveries to 19,370 cars (+0.8%) in July. Demand for the A6, A7 and A8 full-size models remained strong. Cumulative deliveries since the start of the year totaled 120,810 vehicles (-5.0%). In the previous months, the model changeover for the Audi Q3 volume model had dampened deliveries. Dealers took receipt of the first units of the new model throughout July. The North America region closed July with around 22,850 vehicles delivered (-1.3%) and cumulative deliveries of around 146,200 cars (-7.5%) for 2019.
