Audi’s July sales hit new record as Chinese number rallies despite early hiccups

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A double-digit growth in the Chinese market boosts the sales of German automaker, Audi AG in July to hit a new record, the Ingolstadt-based company reported on Friday.

A total of 51,235 units have been delivered to Chinese customers, sealing the year-on-year growth at 10.3%, which constituted the firm’s “biggest share of gains” in July, according to an Audi statement published on its webpage on Friday.

"In China, the positive recent trend for Audi was clearly confirmed in July," the statement noted.

"With balanced global growth in July, we have achieved a successful start into the second half of the year," said Dietmar Voggenreiter, board member for sales and marketing at Audi, in the statement, adding that signs returned to point clearly towards growth for Audi in China.

The German brand had been hitting a bumpy road up until to last month.

A row breaking out early this year between the German headquarters and the distributors of FAW-Volkswagen, Audi’s Chinese subsidiary, over the brand’s partnering with new dealers in China, dealt a blow to the brand’s sales in the first half of 2017, leading to a drop by around 12.2% on annual basis over the first 6 months.

The drop was followed by a publicity crisis in July caused by an online commercial made for the FAW-Volkswagen’s used car department. The ad was accused of being sexist and was taken off. Audi apologized later.

Audi sold worldwide 154,600 cars in July, up by 3.5% than the same month last year, according to the released statistics in the statement.