German car maker Audi has defied industry expectations and posted a massive 51 per cent increase in sales in February, compared to the same month last year.
This brings its year to date growth to 35 per cent, well ahead of the industry average of 11 per cent.
Audi sold 1220 cars in February 2010 compared to 806 in the same month last year, which will likely close the gap to its main German rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW which typically sell between 1400 and 1500 passenger vehicles and SUVs a month. The sales surge is at odds with analyst expectations.
The industry was expecting February to be a slow month after many new-car buyers pulled forward their orders in December and January to take advantage of the Federal Government's small business tax incentive (which ended December 31).
Furthermore, in Audi's case, the growth is continuing at a time when it was expecting sales to plateau slightly, following four record years of sales.
"We expected to grow, not dip, in the first couple of months of 2010, but we certainly didn't expect this. We've been overwhelmed and we're very appreciative," says Immo Buschmann, the general manager of marketing at Audi Australia. "We have a lot of momentum."
Audi says its sales are being buoyed by a fresh model range, new dealerships and more public awareness about the brand. It has 17 models and 70 variants from which to choose.
"The more cars you sell, the more people notice them, so it's kind of self full-filling."
Audi also has a rental car campaign with Europcar to allow customers longer time behind the wheel before they buy, "but overall the number of rental cars we put into the market is really very small".
"Rental cars are not a significant part of our volume. The growth we are enjoying is natural," he said.
In 2009 Audi sold a total of 11,310 vehicles and this year the target is 12,000 on the way to a tally of 15,000 by 2015.
But Audi is currently running well ahead of its 2010 target -- and more new models are on the way.
The sleek S5 Sportback is due in the first half of the year, while the second half of the year sees the arrival of the new A8 limousine, the drop-top version of the R8 supercar, and the high-performance RS5 coupe.
Early next year, Audi will also get a volume boost with its most affordable model, the A1, a rival to the Mini and Fiat 500.
In the meantime, there is at least one drawback of Audi's strong sales: demand for its Q5 soft-roader is so high there is an eight-month waiting list, with more than 800 cars on order. By comparison, the Audi R8 supercar has a five-month waiting list.
"We completely under-estimated the success of the Q5," says Buschmann. "Last year we forecast 1000 sales and we sold 1500."
Audi says 40 per cent of sales are the 2.0-litre turbodiesel model (pictured), 35 per cent are the 2.0-litre turbo petrol model and the balance is shared with the 3.2 V6 petrol and 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel.
Audi Australia is now negotiating to get more cars from Germany. "But the problem is the Q5 is popular everywhere. It seems to have come at exactly the right time. A lot of people in Europe are coming out of Q7 and into a Q5."
But in Australia, some savvy dealers have been reversing this trend.
"Some customers come in to buy a Q5 but have ended up being walked up to a Q7," he said. "So it hasn't hurt Q7 at all."
He says Audi has lost a handful of customers who didn't want to wait for a Q5 but most have been very patient. "We hope the supply situation will get better throughout the year," he said.
February's impressive sales growth occurred while Audi Australia didn't have a boss. The previous boss of Audi Australia Joerg Hofmann left in January for his new job as the head of Audi sales in Germany.
His successor, who did a handover for 10 days in January, takes up his position at Audi Australia as of this Wednesday (March 3).
He is yet to be named but the Carsales Network has been told he was previously based in Germany prior to this role. An official announcement will be made mid week.
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