The Audi A4L in particular contributed to August growth for the brand in China: 10,731 Chinese customers opted for the model in August, 39.5% more than a year ago. The A6L, the bestselling Audi in the market, posted substantial growth, with sales up 12.0% to 13,069 cars.

Across all models, Audi achieved the strongest August sales figures in its history in China, further reducing the cumulative year-on-year decline to 6.6%. Audi has handed over 360,225 automobiles in China since January.

For Audi of America the past month marked a special milestone: With a year-on-year increase of 2.8% to 19,811 sales, August was the 80th consecutive record-breaking month for Audi in the United States. Even in the declining overall market, the company has continued to grow month after month and has delivered 141,606 automobiles since the start of the year, 5.2% more than in the same period in 2016.

In August, in addition to the new A5 family, the Audi Q7 once again saw a sharp increase in demand from US customers. Sales of the full-size SUV increased by a further 35.2% to 3,174 units. Since Q7 sales also rose by just under a third in Canada in August (+30.9% to 322 SUVs), almost half of the Q7 models delivered worldwide went to a U.S. or Canadian customer in the month. Audi in Canada also closed August, as in the previous months, with high double-digit growth across all models: up 26.8% to 3,292 cars.

Among the large European markets, Germany, Italy and Spain in particular reported substantial increases in sales figures for August. In the German domestic market, Audi exceeded the prior-year month by 6.7% with 18,869 automobiles; the 3,394 units sold in Italy represent an increase of 6.0%. Spain saw sales increase 8.8% to 3,194 automobiles in the past month.

In all three countries, the successful Q2, as the latest Audi SUV, created additional demand at the brand’s dealerships. Extraordinary effects in the two largest export markets in Western Europe dampened the sales balance in the region over the past month.

In the United Kingdom (-0.6% to 6,297 cars), Audi sales proved far more resilient than the overall market in August, where sales are traditionally lower ahead of the license plate changeover in September.

In France (-7.3% to 3,674 cars), longer delivery times for especially popular model series in August had an impact on the month-end figures. In cumulative terms, deliveries in both markets are at least on a par with 2016, when Audi UK and Audi France broke new sales records.

Audi sales in Western Europe as a whole for the month of August exceeded the all-time high of 2016 (+2.4% to around 45,600 cars); around 543,700 customers in the region from January through August represent an increase of 1.5%.