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Audi with record sales in China

Ingolstadt (ots)

* Last year's result already exceeded by August
   * FAW-Volkswagen joint venture celebrates ten-year 
   anniversary
   * Premiere of the Audi A8 L 6.0 quattro at the International 
   Automobile Exhibition in Changchun
   * China is Audi's largest market outside Europe after the USA
Audi's success in China remains undiminished. With more than
20,000 cars delivered to customers, the sales success for the whole
of last year (2000: 17,451 cars sold) has already been clearly
exceeded in the first eight months of the current year. Around 11,000
cars were sold in the same period last year.
Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman of AUDI AG's Board of
Management, stated at the Automobile Exhibition in Changchun: "With
the Audi A6, the most modern and advanced model in the premium
segment, we have succeeded as the only manufacturer in further
developing a current model for the Chinese market." According to Dr.
Paefgen, this lead now has to be extended further. China is already
one of the most important export markets for AUDI AG.
The rapid growth of Audi's image and its position in the Chinese
market is the result of successful co-operation since 1989, initially
in the form of a joint venture project with the Chinese First
Automobile Works (FAW) for the manufacture of the Audi 100, then
Audi's participation in the FAW-VOLKSWAGEN joint venture to
manufacture the Audi 200.
The FAW-Volkswagen joint venture, in which Audi has a 10 percent
share, is celebrating its ten-year anniversary today. As Erich
Schmitt, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG and responsible
for the company's activities in China, explained: "Audi's
participation in the joint venture laid the foundations for the
successful market launch of the Audi A6 in the year 2000."
A positive trend that Audi hopes to maintain in the future. This
is emphasised by its presence at the International Automobile
Exhibition, the third largest automobile exhibition in China, which
starts today in Changchun (Jilin province). Audi is showing the A8 L
6.0 quattro (Audi A8 with twelve-cylinder engine) there for the first
time, and plans its market introduction for the end of this year.
Development of the exclusive Audi dealer network in China also
continues to gather pace. There are now 41 Audi dealers serving
customers in all the major Chinese cities. In the words of Dr. Georg
Flandorfer, Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG:
"By the end of the year, the number of exclusive dealerships will
have risen further to 51 in 36 Chinese cities."
Audi is an international developer and manufacturer of
high-quality cars. In 2000 the company sold more than 650,000 Audi
cars and generated sales revenues of DM 39 billion. The Audi Group
currently has more than 50,000 employees.
Communication: Corporate and Finance (International)
Jürgen De Graeve, Tel: ++ 49 (0) 841 89 34084
e-mail:  juergen.degraeve@audi.de

Original content of: Audi AG, transmitted by news aktuell

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