Audi most successful brand in “Best Cars 2013” in China

Audi is the most successful premium brand in the Chinese automotive market. That fact has now been underlined by its popularity among the readers of the Chinese edition of “auto, motor und sport”.

The locally built Audi A6 L even won two categories. It secured top spot in both the “Upper Midsize” category and the “Domestic Upper Midsize” category. The Audi Q5, also built locally, was the most popular model in the “Local SUV Offroader” category. The accolade as winner of the “Deluxe” category went to the Audi A8 L.

Scooping a total of six awards, Audi was thus the top performer in the brand ratings and also earned the title of “Most Environment-Friendly Manufacturer”. “That is especially important to us. In 2011 we launched an efficiency program together with our Chinese partner FAW-VW to cut the average fuel consumption of our Chinese-built cars by more than 15 percent by 2013. Efficient start-stop technology in all local models makes a major contribution towards achieving that goal,” declared Dr. Dietmar Voggenreiter, President of Audi China, when taking receipt of the awards today in Beijing.

As well as the start-stop system and energy recovery, the systematic use of lightweight construction brings improved efficiency. With the arrival of its new A6 L model, Audi became the very first manufacturer to incorporate lightweight-construction components into locally built cars in 2012.

China is the Company’s biggest sales market. Deliveries in China and Hong Kong climbed 29.6 percent to 405,838 units in 2012. Audi is the most successful premium brand there and is confident of performing well in 2013, when the Company will be celebrating “25 years of Audi in China” through its alliance with the joint venture partner FAW. There are more upcoming market launches, including the locally built Audi Q3. At the end of the year, production of an A3 derivative model will commence at the new location in Foshan, South China.