BERLIN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - German luxury-car maker Audi stuck to its full-year profit target even as higher costs of plants and technology inflicted a double-digit drop in third-quarter earnings.
The Volkswagen-owned division is pushing costly overseas expansion, adding capacity in China, Mexico and Brazil as the brand aims to topple luxury-sales champion BMW by the end of the decade.
Audi reaffirmed its goal to achieve an operating profit margin "at the upper end" of a target range between 8 percent and 10 percent this year, even as third-quarter operating profit plunged 17 percent to 1.10 billion euros, missing the lowest estimate of 1.13 billion euros in a Reuters poll.
However Audi's third-quarter operating margin of 9.4 percent beat the 7.3 percent return on sales at Mercedes.
BMW will report third-quarter figures on Tuesday.
Audi, based in Ingolstadt, Germany, also stood by a goal to hit its sales target of 1.5 million cars and SUVs in 2013, two years early.
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