Audi sells fewer cars than Mercedes as rivalry intensifiesOctober 9, 2014 - 17:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Audi sold fewer cars than rival Mercedes-Benz for the first time this year in the latest sign that the sales rivalry among Germany's top luxury automakers is intensifying, Reuters reported. Deliveries at Volkswagen's flagship division rose 6.4 percent to 159,950 cars and sport-utility vehicles, the company said on Thursday, Oct 9, the best-ever September result for Audi but still falling short of its competitor. Mercedes-Benz sold 162,746 models, the best-ever month for sales in its 88-year history and a 14 percent gain on year-ago levels, benefiting from the release of new models and surging demand in China. Audi, which eclipsed Mercedes-Benz in 2011 to become the world's No. 2 premium automaker behind BMW, has seen its sales lead over the Daimler division shrink to 103,494 cars after nine months, compared with 118,110 a year ago. While Mercedes-Benz is enjoying strong demand for a spate of redesigned models, including the E-Class and the flagship S-Class saloon, Audi has pushed planned overhauls of its top-selling A4 model and the Q7 SUV into 2015. "Mercedes will catch up further with BMW and Audi in coming months, they simply got the freshest product line-up," said Frankfurt-based Commerzbank analyst Sascha Gommel, according to Reuters. Still, Audi has a goal of boosting full-year sales to above 1.7 million vehicles from last year's record 1.58 million, relying on momentum in China and EurSTATope where it leads the premium segment. Mercedes-Benz has a goal of pushing brand deliveries above last year's record 1.46 million cars. Both brands are vying to snatch the global luxury-sales crown from BMW by the end of the decade. The Munich-based manufacturer, whose eight-month brand deliveries were up 9.5 percent to 1.15 million cars, is also expected to publish September sales this week. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |