AUDI USA SALES IN SEPTEMBER 2008 - NOT AS BAD AS EVERTBODY ELSE

Sales forecasts in mid-to-late September cast shadows over every automaker competing in the American automotive marketplace. Those shadows were appropriate. Every single automaker to report posted worse sales this September than they did in September of 2007.

However, Audi's percentage drop was smaller than all other automakers. While managing to sell 7,584 vehicles, Audi was just 5.4% lower than last September. Similarly competitive manufacturers like Infiniti, for instance, sold 7,779 vehicles. That was a drop of 24.1%. Lincoln sold 7,571 cars; a 22.5% fall.

So although Audi ranked just 24th overall in total sales in America for the month of September, way behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the performance relative to the much more profitable-for-everyone September/2007 was markedly better. Why? Well, here are Audi's September sales laid out on a platter. At the bottom you can see Audi's year-to-date numbers for the USA. Keep in mind, Audi Canada sold just 949 cars in September, but that was a 53.1% gain over last September.

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287 - total Audi A3 sales in September, down from 462 last year

3,495 - total September sales of the Audi A4 lineup (including S4 and RS4 and Avants), down from 3,936 last year

719 - total Audi A5 & S5 sales in September, way up on the 115 from last September

1,090 - total Audi A6 & S6 sales, including the Avant wagons, holding steady near the 1,126 posted last September

261 - total Audi A8 sales last month, down 16.1% from the 311 A8's of last September

266 - total sales of the Good 12-winning Audi TT in September, down from 412 last year

73 - total sales of the Audi supercar, the R8, in September, up from 67 last year

1,393 - total sales of Audi's SUV, the Q7, down only 12.4% from the 1,591 of last September