Porsche and Audi break records as demand for luxury cars rises
PORSCHE and Audi have both posted annual sales jumps, benefiting from the global surge in demand for luxury cars and giving a boost to parent firm Volkswagen.
More than 162,000 Porsches were delivered last year, up 15 per cent on 2012 and a company record.
In the US, the marque’s biggest market, sales were up 20.8 per cent to more than 42,000, while Chinese buyers took 37,425 cars, a rise of 20 per cent.
Porsche’s home market of Germany bought 17.8 per cent more cars, though muted demand in the rest of Europe dragged the continent’s growth to 4.4 per cent.
“We’re entering the new year with a great deal of confidence,” Porsche sales chief Bernhard Maier said yesterday. “We did anything but terminate our product offensive in 2013.”
Audi also broke its annual sales record by delivering more than 1.57m cars last year, up 8.3 per cent.
The brand’s three biggest export markets – China, the US and the UK – all brought in double-digit sales growth, up 21.2, 13.5 and 14.9 per cent respectively.