Chinese demand drives up Audi sales

Volkswagen's premium brand, Audi, reported a surge in July sales yesterday, helped by growth in China and rising demand for its Q3 compact SUV.

Sales rose 9.8 per cent last month to 131,300 vehicles, driven by a 27 per cent jump in volumes in China, its single largest market.

For the first seven months of the year, sales rose 6.9 per cent to 911,800 vehicles thanks to its SUV range and the February launch of its A3 Sportback five-door compact, Audi said.

It repeated its goal to surpass full-year sales of 1.5 million vehicles this year, two years earlier than planned.

Audi is important to Volkswagen, playing a key role in bolstering the parent company's credit rating so it can fund a continuing acquisition spree that has so far included truckmaker MAN, Porsche's sports car business and Italian motorcycle brand Ducati.

Were it not for Audi's €13.5 billion (HK$139 billion) in net cash at the end of June, Volkswagen's vehicle business would have no war chest at all and would have had to report it owed about €2.2 billion.