Audi, part of the Volkswagen group, said on Nov. 10 that October sales had risen while sales by rivals slumped but that it too would reduce output in December. Audi said that sales had increased by 7% to more than 82,000 vehicles last month, a result that ran counter to rivals BMW or Daimler which saw sales slump by 8% and 18% respectively.
Since January, Audi sales have gained 3.3% to 845,000 automobiles, and the group confirmed its 2008 target of more than one million cars.
"Audi is performing well, but our corporate performance is increasingly influenced by declining markets," chairman Rupert Stadler said. As a result, "in some areas of production we will take advantage of the Christmas period to maneuver carefully into 2009," he added.
Two Audi plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm would "align production to individual levels of demand," Stadler said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
