Audi has for the longest time a sales lead in China due to its early entry into the Chinese market with its sibling Volkswagen. However, in the last few years it lost its lead in China with Mercedes taking the crown. Now the tide has changed and Audi China’s sales topped Mercedes-Benz last month for the first time this year as they increased 3.8% to 53,191 while Mercedes registrations rose 8.3% to 52,616. The growth in Audi demand was led by the locally built stretched A4 sedan whose deliveries surged 33% from a year earlier to 13,985 last month.
BMW brand sales rose 8.3% to 44,135 in the same period. In the first 7 months, Audi still trailed Mercedes: Audi registrations jumped 17% to 359,781 while Mercedes sales advanced 15% to 392,780. BMW brand rose 4% to 330,671. Audi remained the best-selling luxury brand in China last year.
