Record month in China propels Audi sales in July

Audi logo sign is seen inside the lobby at the U.S. headquarters building of the Volkswagen Group of America in Herndon, Virginia, September 18, 2008.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Booming demand in China propelled Audi's (VOWG.DE) sales growth in July, the premium brand of Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) said on Thursday. Last month Audi sales in China including Hong Kong jumped nearly 43 percent to 13,399 vehicles, marking another monthly record.

The brand's success in its second-largest market assured overall Audi volumes grew by 2.1 percent in July to some 85,000 vehicles.

"In recent months we've bolstered our brand worldwide by investing wisely, and with our sales success in July we further increased the pressure on the competition," Audi sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said in the statement.

Pointing to the first-half operating profit of 823 million euros ($1.18 billion), he added: "Our financial data show that we are not only achieving impressive sales figures, but that our business is above all profitable; our encouraging development is long-lasting."

In the first seven months of the year, Audi sales fell 8.1 percent to 551,000 units -- a decline mitigated by a 15 percent gain in China.

As a result, the share of volumes sold in China as a percentage of the overall group has risen to 14.6 percent in January through July versus 11.9 percent for the full year 2008.

Audi also managed solid growth rates in its substantially smaller Asian markets like Japan and Australia, while in its core domestic market in Germany sales eked out a tiny increase to 23,404 vehicles.

Overall in western Europe, volumes fell just 2.4 percent to 55,400 vehicles.

By comparison, luxury rivals BMW (BMWG.DE) and Mercedes-Benz of Daimler (DAIGn.DE) have fared considerably worse in terms of volumes this year.

In the first half, Mercedes-Benz brand sales fell 19 percent to 483,300 vehicles while BMW brand volumes also dropped 19 percent to 513,591 units.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)