UPDATE 1-Audi to extend Christmas break despite Oct growth

* Reaffirms to hit 1 mln unit sales in 2008

* to extend Christmas break as precaution

* vehicle sales grow 7.2 percent in October

FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) premium brand, Audi, reaffirmed its target for 2008 vehicle sales after another month of volume growth in October, but said it will extend Christmas shutdowns at some plants as a precautionary step.

"In some areas of production we will take advantage of the Christmas period to manoeuvre carefully into 2009," Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler said in a statement, adding that the German carmaker's performance is "increasingly influenced by declining markets".

A spokeswoman for Audi, which has lower exposure to the collapsing U.S. market than most of its rivals, said new orders for cars have so far not begun to decline, however.

Ahead of the launch of its new Q5 mid-sized SUV, Audi sales in October increased by 7.2 percent to 82,400 units, nearly matching those of its traditionally better-selling domestic rival Mercedes-Benz (DAIGn.DE).

This brought year-to-date volumes to 844,700 vehicles, a gain of 3.3 percent over the first 10 months of 2007.

Growth was spurred, not just in emerging markets such as China but also in France and Italy, by strong sales of best-selling models like the A4 mid-sized saloon and estate.

"Despite the currently difficult overall economic environment, we will reach our sales target of one million vehicles for 2008," Audi sales boss Peter Schwarzenbauer said.

On Friday, larger domestic rivals BMW (BMWG.DE) and Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz both posted sharp declines in unit sales in October due to continued weakness in U.S. and western European markets.

BMW brand sales fell 9.2 percent to 95,502 vehicles last month, while Mercedes-Benz saw volumes fall by 21 percent to 82,500 units.

BMW now expects group vehicle sales including Mini and Rolls-Royce to fall this year for the first time since 1993 after adjusting to exclude its former Rover subsidiary.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; editing by John Stonestreet)