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News Releases
Audi is Western Europe’s Top Premium Brand
2009-02-16
• Number of newly registered Audi models overtakes that of
premium competitors
• Marked rise in Audi’s market shares
• Schwarzenbauer, Head of Sales and Marketing: “Full speed ahead
for our product offensive”
Ingolstadt – In January, Audi surpassed its premium competitors with regard to new-vehicle registrations in Western Europe. The Ingolstadtbased automotive manufacturer sold 45,124 new vehicles in this region in January – far more than either of its key competitors.
While the overall market has come under pressure, Audi managed to considerably increase its market shares. The brand with the four rings accounted for 5.1 percent of new Western European vehicle registrations in January 2009. Audi’s market share for the same month last year was 3.9 percent. These figures demonstrate that AUDI AG has perpetuated the upward trend of recent months.
Throughout the last quarter of 2008, the brand with the four rings was consistently at the top of its class with market shares above five percent. For Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG, this triumph is explained primarily by the brand’s young product range. In 2008 alone, the Ingolstadt-based company launched twelve new models.
“We have moved our product offensive into the passing lane,” says Schwarzenbauer. “Particularly in economically strained times, it is crucial that we at Audi offer our customers precisely what they want. We must offer appealing and sporty models which stir enthusiasm among Audi fans – vehicles that are also highly energy-efficient and low on consumption. In 2009, we will remain on the offensive.”
During the first half of 2009 alone, six new Audi models are scheduled to hit the market. Schwarzenbauer adds: “By 2015, we expect to offer Audi customers 40 different models, all loaded with forward-thinking technologies. To this end, we invest some two billion euros annually in product development.”
Recent research corroborates just how fruitful Audi’s brand strategy and its model range already are. The market research institute Simpson Carpenter conducted a representative survey to determine which vehicles constitute Germans’ dream cars. As it turns out, Audi has become Germany’s most beloved automotive brand. The German trade journal auto motor und sport published similarly positive opinions about the brand with the four rings. Indeed, 100,000 of its readers selected the Audi A4, Audi A6, and the new Audi Q5 as the best vehicles
of 2009.
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