We'll be number one by 2020, says Audi

Audi Australia believes its unprecedented model renewal and expansion plan will allow it to overtake BMW as early as this year and help it gazump Mercedes-Benz as the number one luxury brand by 2020.

Speaking at this week's launch of the facelifted A1 hatch and Q3 city-SUV, managing director Andrew Doyle said key releases like this year's new Q7 and next year's new A4 will continue Audi's stellar sales growth.

Australia's premium vehicle segment expanded by more than 15 per cent to 43,463 sales to May this year, in an overall market that was up just 2.5 per cent to 452,577.

Mercedes grew the most, by 21.6 per cent to 12,062 sales, but Audi lifted by 16.3 per cent to 9128 after posting its second all-time monthly sales record in May. In between, BMW increased its sales by 13.1 per cent to 9788 and now lies just 660 sales ahead of Audi.

"We are getting closer to our rivals," said Doyle. "We represent about 97 per cent of BMW's volume and that's always interesting for us, having come from around 35 per cent of their volume level just 10 years ago, so we are very, very close.

"We do plan of course in a volume sense to become number two before we become number one and we believe we can do that in the next few years."

Asked if Audi would surpass BMW as the number two premium brand this year, Doyle said: "We don't know what BMW's going to do with their volume, so that's hard to answer, but the trajectory is such that that could be something that may happen in the not too distant future.

"We're focused on improving our performance every month and year, but not at the cost of other more reckless activities. We're doing it in a sustained way. Whether it's this year or next year it's not out major focus be we believe it will happen."

As for market leadership, Doyle indicated Audi plans to overtake Mercedes by the end of this decade.

"Of course we have to acknowledge our friends at Mercedes are also growing very strongly with some new models, but we believe our new product line-up will be stronger than ever before with best products we've ever had.

"Within the next, let's say, five years or so we'd hope to be number one in the marketplace in that timeframe."

As always, Audi's local MD said the German car-maker's sales march would not come at the expense of long-term customer or dealer dissatisfaction.

"We do want to be the number one premium brand, not only in terms of volume but overall maturity of our growth, so we're not in a massive rush to do that. Our growth has always been sustainable and I think we try to do that in a very sensible manner in terms of dealerships, representation and model offering."

Key to Audi's sales growth is a dramatic investment in its model portfolio, which will be expanded to 60 models by 2020, by which time Audi wants two million annual sales, following a record 64 billion euro investment between now and 2019.

Having launched the upgraded A1 and Q3 this month, Audi will next month release its first plug-in model, the A3 e-tron, and the facelifted RS Q3, A7, S7, RS 6 and RS 7, plus the new TT Roadster and both the TTS coupe and convertible.

But it's biggest release for this year will be the second-generation Q7 in September, followed by the RS hot hatch in October.

Redesigned versions of its volume-selling A4 and the R8 supercar will debut in Europe this year but won't arrive here until next year, when the first in a series of additional SUV models will arrive to ride a global boom that's expected to see SUVs account for 40 per cent of the world car market by 2020.

Next year's pint-size Q1 will be followed by the TT Q (a Q3-based small crossover-coupe rendered here in red) in 2017, the Q6 (a Q5-based, electric rival for the BMW X6 and Benz GLE Coupe) in 2018, and the Q8 – a Q7-based flagship SUV/coupe rendered here in silver -- in 2019.

"We have some strong new volume models coming up this year with the all-new Q7 and the all-new A4 next year," said Doyle, who added that while the Q5 continues to Audi Australia's top-selling model, sales of the Q1 will be all incremental.

Audi Australia is not just growing faster than its nearest German rival, but its fellow subsidiaries in other markets. Australia was Audi's 18th largest market in 2013, but to April this year it lies 13th, with Australians now buying more Audis than Brazilians, Swedes, Swiss and Turkish.

So far this year Audi Australia is within 700 of Audi Canada and about 1000 behind Audi Russia, with 10-placed Audi Japan still ahead of them but sliding by eight per cent with less than 10,000 sales.

"We take this as good sport for us to chase some of the countries we have a sporting interest against, and we'd like to catch Canada before too long," said Doyle.

"It's important for us because it means that many of our models are within the top 10 for Audi globally and it gives us more sway with head office."