Audi Reports Best January Ever

Not surprisingly, given the strong performance recorded last year, the Germans from Audi are still riding the waves of success. The first month of the year ended with a bang for the auto maker, who reported this week its best sales figures for the month in its history.

In January, Audi sold 95,400 cars to customers worldwide, representing a 14.8 percent increase compared to the same month of last year. Perhaps for the first time since its launch, the new A1 proved to be a hit, the car maker registering an increase of 14.8 percent.

“Based on the current order situation, we expect a strong first quarter in 2011”, said Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi board member for Marketing and Sales, said in a statement. “Development of the business in our European export markets is important to our annual forecast, which calls for 1.2 million cars to be sold. And I see strong signs here, with an increase of 18.6 percent in January alone.”

Percentage wise, the biggest increase for Audi once again came from China. Here, the brand sold 32 percent more cars (22,196 units.) At the opposite end, Italians proved less willing to spend in January. Only 5,006 Italians bought themselves an Audi last month, representing an increase of 5.3 percent increase.

The results reported for last month do nothing but confirm the confidence the car maker has in its products. Audi already announced the biggest investment in its history, with billions to be spent on expansion and development of new products. The goal is to make mother group Volkswagen reach the number one spot by 2018.