2012 Audi S5 Coupe

2012 Audi S5 Coupe

Audi is the latest luxury automotive brand to announce record sales and profits for the first six months of the 2011, with the automaker from Ingolstadt posting a $3.5 billion operating profit for the period and record sales of 652,970 vehicles--nearly 100,000 more than in the same period just one year ago.

You may recall that Mercedes-Benz and BMW have announced similar record profit levels, all thanks to surging demand in China as well as resurgent activity in established markets such as the U.S., Germany and the UK.

Key players were the A8 flagship sedan as well as the A7 Sportback and A1 hatchback, the latter selling in numbers as high as 63,000 in the six month period ending June 30, 2011. Moreover, there was continued strong demand for the Q5 and Q7, especially in the U.S. and China.  

The picture isn’t completely rosy, however. Audi’s finance chief Axel Strotbek has warned that immense public debt, volatile market trends, and rising commodity prices all post a future threat for automakers.

That said, the automaker remains confident that it can continue its growth trend thanks to the introduction of the new A6, recently introduced Q3, and facelifted A5 and S5 range.