The first three months of 2012 where quite joyful for Audi. With a total of 471,300 cars sold, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year, the Volkswagen Group’s premium brand sold almost as much cars as its main rival BMW. The other Bavarian car maker saw its sales rose 10 percent to 478,030, and Mercedes also saw an increase in sales by 10%, totaling 418,246 cars.
Audi’s revenues rose to 12,4 billion euros in the first quarter of this year. The Ingolstadt based carmaker reported an increase of its operating profit by 27 percent, bringing the total to a record 1.4 billion euros. In order to meet the financial targets, Audi has scheduled to introduce 18 new or upgraded models this year. These include the S3, RS6 Avant and the renewed R8.
But the plans for the future are even more ambitious: Audi wants to become the world’s largest manufacturer of premium cars, a title currently held by BMW. Therefore Audi plans an extensive expansion of their line-up. The company has already filed papers to protect the names Q6, Q8, R6, S2, S9, RS1 and RS8. In addition to these proposed and planned cars, Audi has also trademarked e-diesel, e-benzin and e-gasoline which will likely will represent the hybrid department.
Although it’s not sure if all of these trademarked names will eventually result in a production model, it will be interesting to see what the future will bring for Audi. One thing is for sure, there is a lot of activity going on in Ingolstadt which will undoubtedly result in some spectacular cars.
[Via Automotive News Europe]
