Lifted by China, VW's Audi Reports Record First-Quarter Sales

Audi, the top-of-the-range automaker owned by German auto giant Volkswagen AG (IW 1000: 10), said it achieved record sales in the first quarter of 2012, thanks to strong demand in China.

Audi said it sold 346,100 cars worldwide in the January-March period, up 10.8% compared with a year earlier.

"This past quarter was the best in our company's history," Audi said in a news release.

With Chinese sales soaring by 40.5% to 90,063 in the three months, Audi also achieved its best quarter ever in China, it said.

By contrast, sales in Europe slipped by .1% to 186,350 vehicles.

"We kicked off 2012 very successfully and expect growth to continue in the months to come," board member Peter Schwarzenbauer said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012

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