Economic Observer Online
May 25, 2012 

By Liu Xiaolin (刘晓林)
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]

Global sales of German luxury car manufacturer Audi exceeded BMW for the first time in more than a year last month.

April sales of Volkswagen AG’s Audi benefited from continued high demand in China as well as strong sales in the U.S. and Russia.

The last time monthly Audi sales exceeded those of the Munich-based Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) was in Jan 2011.

According to data released by Audi, global sales of cars and SUVs rose 14.4 percent in April to 125,200 vehicles.
 
Over the same period, BMW sold 121,500 units, an increase of 7.4 percent.

However, from Jan to April this year, BMW still holds the mantle of the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, selling a total of 478,000 vehicles, an increase of 10.1 percent on the same period last year.

Of the cars BMW sold worldwide in the first four months of the year, 21 percent went to China. According to Bloomberg, this is up from 2 percent of global sales going to Chinese customers in 2005.

Audi’s global sales during the same four-month period increased 11.7 percent, with a total of 471,300 vehicles sold.

China, as Audi’s biggest market, helped contribute to the strong growth in the company's April sales.

In April, Audi sales in China reached 34,221 units, an increase of 44 percent over last April.

Audi sold upwards of 10,000 more vehicles in China than it did in its home market of Germany.

Audi’s total China sales for the first four months were 124,284, an increase of 41.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Bloomberg, China accounted for 74 percent of Audi's delivery growth of 49,300 vehicles this year.

Analysts believe that with the opening of a large new factory in North East China, BMW’s production capacity and sales are likely to increase dramatically, which will make it difficult for Audi to maintain its top position in China's luxury car market.