Audi Sales Up 14.7% For March

Very nice increase.

The entire increase was due to the new Q7. Sales of existing Audis are down again. Audi needs to get its act together in the US.

Yeah it looks like the A3, A4, A6 and A8 all had sales declines which suggests Audi can only increase sales by introducing new models such as the Q7 . . . an expensive way to expand! However the dealers must be happy, average sales per Audi dealer are very low so any extra Q7 sales must be much appreciated.

A4 was up, also.

As long as they're increasing sales, it really doesn't bother me. Interest is waning; the A8 is due to be replaced and the A6 should get a refresh soon. A4 still has the public's attention, though, even though it's going to be replaced the soonest.

In Lexus's lineup, the IS, GS, SC, RX, GX and LX were all down. How about that?

Was the new TT on sale in march?
They only sold 87....
And the Q7 is their second best seller. Only in America...

No, most dealers haven't gotten TTs yet. A few have one, but they aren't for sale yet. I think April is the official sale start of the TT.

Audi needs to spend some money on advertisement not just the Q7.

I don't feel like it's a bad move that they're advertising the Q7 the most. It's producing the best results, and they'll easily produce over 100,000 cars in the US this year if this continues.

You have to read between the lines. The increase is due to the Q7, every other bread and butter model is down. (not good) How long do you think the Q7 will stay as popular as it is?

You are right. The Q7 skews the numbers. Still, I am surprised Audi has such poor overall sales figures in the U.S. versus the other brands it competes against.

In Lexus's lineup, the IS, GS, SC, RX, GX and LX were all down.

Now let's put these numbers in perspective.

Audi sold 3783 A4/S4/RS4 variants. BMW sold 11259 3-series models, without an M3 to compete with the S4/RS4 and without a convertible of any kind. Audi sold 1038 A6/S6's, BMW sold 4315 5's in a month where there are very few 2007 5's available (2008's arrive in April). Audi sold 362 A8/S8's, BMW sold 1450 7's. The big one though is the Q7, because that is the car that's keeping Audi's figures high. Audi sold 2075 Q7's. BMW almost doubled that by selling 3707 X5's. That's significant because last month Audi sold roughly 2000 Q7's (aka the same as this month) and BMW was at around 3000 X5's, so BMW outsold Audi by 50%. Now the gap is widening to almost 80%, despite Audi offering some aggressive leases on the Q7 and BMW not really offering anything on the X5.

Let the deboosting begin...

They are still pushing the last-gen 3 cabrio off lots. It was on the bmwusa site as late as last month. The A4 will also be replaced later this year, while the 3 sedan is only two years old, the coupe, even newer.

Why would there be "very few" 5 Series models available when it's getting a minor refresh? That's when they're trying HARDEST to get the '07s and '06s off the market!

I have nothing to say about the A8. A8 and 7 are both seriously great cars. IMO the A8 is better, but here in image-conscious America, it's all about the badge.

Didn't you hear that BMW is pulling out all the stops to get the new X5 to sell better than the old one?

I love BMW- I want a new M3, myself. But it's comments like yours that piss me off.

S4, I'll go through one by one.

First, BMW stopped building 3-series convertibles last year. They stopped building 2006's in August, the new convertibles just came out last week as 2007's. They went seven months without one. So they may have been on BMWUSA.com but they weren't building them anymore and they didn't exist.

Second, there are very few 5-series available because BMW cut production just as they did on the X5 when the new X5 was coming. Why? Because outside the car might be a minor change, but otherwise it's not just a minor refresh -- they're changing from 525/530 to 528/535 AND lowering prices. How many 2007 525's and 530's are you going to sell when a restyled 2008 528/535 is sitting right next to it with a $425 LOWER MSRP? None. And you read that right, the 2008's when equipped with the now free automatic transmission are actually CHEAPER than the 2007's they're replacing. How do you get around that? Sell all your 2007's before the 2008's arrive. How do you guarantee that? Make sure there aren't many 2007's left in the first place.

A8 and 7-series, actually that surprised me a lot too. I really like the A8, Audi needs to advertise or something. Both of them were outsold handily by the LS and S though.

Finally, the X5... outside of advertising it BMW isn't doing a thing to push that car. In fact the "not very special" special lease they started last month, they took away this month. The base lease factor equates to 6.6% interest, the residual isn't inflated, nothing. It has zero sales support on it whatsoever. It's selling better than the old one because it IS better than the old one, and the old one was a great car for its time.

I've told you before, I like Audi. I wish they'd figure out how to get people to consider their vehicles here. I only posted the figures because I knew people were going to be giving themselves handjobs over the 14.7% sales increase, just as they do on here every month, and sometimes a little big picture perspective is necessary.

BMW offers big incentives with their leases to push sales.

Every manufacturer subsidizes leases to some degree. But BMW isn't doing much, and especially not on the competitors to the models that matter most for Audi right now. The X5 gets basically no lease support whatsoever, and the 3-series gets nowhere near what Audi does with the A4. On BMW leases the money factor is the equivalent of 2.4-6.6% interest. The only really low ones are the Z4 and 2007 5-series, and that makes sense -- they're kickstarting spring to get rid of winter Z4 pileup and trying to get rid of 2007 5's with the more powerful and restyled 2008's coming in April.

Not. The A4 is actually at the end of its model cycle. A new one will be in the dealerships in less than a years time. Please get serious and don't make stuff up.

JRobUSC -
In case you didn't read a few weeks ago in the investment publication article that was posted on this site - BMW offers the highest incentives of te three German competitors. Also Audi in the US said they do not want to get into that game because they are more concerned with being profitable. http://www.audiworld.com/news/07/johan-de-nysschen-interview/
Actually what amazes me is how Audi does so well worldwide and is lackluster in the U.S. Just this past weekend there was a conversation about the movie Transporter 2 (in which the main character drove an A8) - the guy commented "I loved that car - it was a Bimmer right?". I guess Audi just doesn't push it's name out there...? Finally - as far as the Q7 pushing up the sales - all the luxury makes do that - meaning they try to keep a constant stream of new vehicles coming out to keep the brand fresh. Audi is just starting to catch up to that. Look how many more models Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW have. I do agree that the A6 and A8 shouldn't have dropped so much though.

Very nice auto sales for the most part "UP" (BIG THREE ALWAYS DOWN what's new), when are we going to hear MPG GOING UP???