Sales of Audi, BMW in China rise slightly in February

BERLIN, March 8 (Xinhua) -- German carmakers Audi and BMW announced on Friday that their sales in CHINA rose slightly in February.

Audi announced to have delivered 40,084 cars to Chinese customers in February, up by 1.8 percent on the same month in 2018.

In the first two months of the year, Audi's deliveries in CHINA increased by 3.8 percent to 104,084 units, setting a new record-breaking figure, according to its official statement.

Meanwhile, BMW Group also saw a slight increase of its sales in CHINA. Around 44,582 units have been sold in the Chinese mainland, a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percent.

According to the Munich-based company, a total of 107,717 units have been delivered to Chinese customers in the first two months of the year, up by 8.8 percent.

However, sales of both Audi and BMW Group in February fell year on year worldwide, including in Europe and the U.S., down by 8.5 percent and 4.1 percent respectively.

"The limited availability of model variants due to WLTP and a challenging startup situation could still be felt in February," said Martin Sander, vice president global marketing and sales at AUDI AG.

Pieter Nota, member of the BMW AG board of management responsible for sales and brand BMW, remained confident his company will achieve a slight sales increase in 2019.