Audi outsells Mercedes as overseas demand offsets Russia

Reuters

Published Aug 07, 2014 11:46

Updated Aug 07, 2014 12:00

Audi outsells Mercedes as overseas demand offsets Russia

BERLIN (Reuters) - Audi (DE:VOWG_p) outsold closest rival Mercedes-Benz (DE:DAIGn) for a seventh straight month this year, with its deliveries rising almost 10 percent in July as a strong showing in the United States and China offset slumping demand in Russia.

Volkswagen's flagship luxury brand posted a 9.7 percent rise in sales to 144,000 cars and sport-utility vehicles, as double-digit percentage gains in the United States, China and Brazil outweighed a 12 percent drop in Russia, Audi said on Thursday.

Audi's seven-month sales increased 11 percent to a record 1.01 million autos, keeping the brand on track to push full-year deliveries "significantly" above 1.6 million.

German rival Mercedes-Benz, which dropped behind Audi into third place in 2011 in the global premium sales race, posted a 11.3 percent gain in July deliveries to 130,003.

Germany's three major premium carmakers, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and leader BMW (DE:BMWG) have closed in on each other this year, with Audi narrowing its six-month sales gap with BMW to 17,000 cars from 24,000 a year ago. BMW is expected to publish July sales this week.

Audi's year-to-date sales lead over Mercedes has narrowed marginally to 99,827 cars, compared with 100,561 a year ago, according to company records.

Ingolstadt-based Audi, the main contributor to VW group profit, is grappling with a deepening slump in demand in Russia, where sales plunged 12 percent last month to 2,600 models, following declines of 3.3 percent and 4.2 percent respectively in June and May.