Thursday January 8, 10:54 AM
Audi bucks auto sector slump, sells more than 1m cars in 2008
FRANKFURT (AFP) - German high-end car maker Audi (Xetra: 675700 - news) said Thursday it had sold more than a million vehicles last year, a record that contrasted sharply with slumping global sector sales.
The company, which belongs to the German giant Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) , hit its target of a record one million auto sales with an increase of 4.1 percent from the level in 2007, it said in a statement.
For Audi, it was the 13th consecutive annual record, boss Rupert Stadler noted in a statement.
"We have ambitous long-term objectives: We want to make Audi the most attractive high-end brand in the world," Stadler said.
The company is targeting German rivals BMW (Xetra: 519000 - news) and Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) 's Mercedes Benz brand, which have been slammed by slumping global economies, in particular by a recession in the United States.
Audi also saw sales fall by 6.0 percent last year in the United States last year, but compensated with an increase of 2.5 percent in western Europe and a jump of 16 percent in the Asia-Pacific (002790.KS - news) region.
In December, when most automakers were reporting sharp drops in sales, Audi sales gained 17 percent, the statement said.
Its results were even 23 percent stronger than in December 2007.
Audi benefited from the introduction of new models throughout 2008, including the introduction in November of its Q5, a high-end cross between compact car and a sports utility vehicle.
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