AUDI AG sells over one million cars in 2008

While the auto industry was hit with depressing sales during 2008, Audi AG announced today that it reached its objective of selling more than one million cars in 2008 for the first time in its history. Audi said that its unit sales jumped by 4.1 percent over 2007 – for a total of 1,003,400 vehicles sold worldwide.

December sales for Audi jumped 17.4 percent with a total of 82,800 units sold. The German automaker said that about 12 new or upgraded models helped boost overall sales. The most important introductions for Audi last year was the new A4 sedan and the new Audi Q5 SUV followed by upgrades to the A3 and A6.

“We”ll continue to draw on this strength in the difficult year of 2009,” Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, said in a statement. “We have ambitious long-term goals: We want to make Audi the most attractive premium brand worldwide.”

Audi saw strong growth in the European and Asia-Pacific regions. In Western Europe, Audi sold some 667,000 units, 2.5 percent more than it did in 2007. In the Asia-Pacific region about 155,100 customers bought an Audi vehicle. IN the U.S. Audi sold a total of 87,760 units in 2008.

2009 Audi A4: