Audi third-quarter deliveries fall 19.7%

Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, saw a marked drop in global deliveries in the third quarter. According to figures released by the company, the number of vehicles handed over to customers in July-September came to just 314,900, a decline of 19.7% from the same period a year earlier.

The main driver of the decline was a contraction in the Chinese market. The slide in Audi's sales is not new: the brand had already posted an 8% drop in the second quarter. In the third quarter, that loss grew to nearly two and a half times as large.

No change in the picture for electric models

There is no sign of a recovery on Audi's all-electric side either. Global sales of the brand's battery-electric models fell 21.5% year on year in the third quarter to 48,700 units. That means the rate of decline in the electric segment outpaced the drop in total deliveries.

The figures suggest that, for now, electric models are far from being a factor supporting the brand's overall sales performance.

Nine-month tally down 11.4%

For the first nine months of the year, Audi delivered 1,042,200 vehicles worldwide in January-September, down 11.4% from the same period last year. The steep third-quarter decline played a decisive role in dragging down the nine-month total.

China remains the company's most troubled market. Audi's deliveries there fell by about 25% over the nine-month period. Growing competition from strengthening local manufacturers and weakening demand are hurting not only Audi but other German automakers as well.

Developments in China once again underline how decisive that market is for the global sales performance of German premium brands. Whether Audi can reverse the trend in the final quarter of the year will be closely watched by the industry.