Audi announces best ever first half sales – 981,681 cars sold globally in 1H 2021, RM19.6 bil pre-tax profit

Audi, like many other established premium automakers this year, has announced its best ever first half sales performance. From January to June 2021, the Four Rings sold 981,681 vehicles globally, an increase of 38.8% compared to 1H 2020. This is bolstered by a sales surge in the second quarter where it sold 518,853 cars worldwide, making it the best quarter in Audi’s history.

In China, the automaker sold 418,749 cars (up 38.4%), its best ever result. Demand for Audi in the US also peaked with 121,835 vehicles delivered (up 59.9%, a new record). Momentum was also strong in Europe with 351,588 vehicles (an increase of 32.7%) sold, of which 104,031 units (up 5.7%) were sold in Germany.

As with the trend, demand for electrified cars is growing, which saw Audi delivering more than 80,000 fully electric or hybrid cars in the first six months of the year. This is more than double what it achieved in 1H 2020, where it sold approximately 36,000 electrified models. Deliveries of fully electric cars stood at 32,775 units, a 69.3% increase from the same period last year.

Audi did not provide a breakdown of its most popular models, but noted considerably high growth rates for SUV and range-topping models. Of the total cars it delivered in 1H 2021, 47.2% or 463,585 of them were SUVs.

Sales revenue for 1H 2021 increased by 42.7% to 29.2 million euros (RM146.5 million; higher than pre-crisis levels), up from 20.5 million euros (RM102.9 million) it achieved last year. Operating profits grew to 3.1 billion euros (RM15.56 billion; up from -750 million euros in 1H 2020), and the operating return on sales rose 10.7% (-3.7% in 1H 2020).

Pre-tax profits is 3.9 billion euros (RM19.6 billion; 86 million euros in 1H 2020), while net cash flow stood at 5.51 billion euros (RM27.7 billion). Audi expects demand to continue growing throughout the rest of the year, and it remains cautiously optimistic regarding the critical semiconductor shortage.


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Audi board member for finance and legal affairs, Jürgen Rittersberger said: “The positive trend at the start of the year continued in the months to June. We have brought the first half-year to a successful conclusion. Our financial performance shows that we have handled the challenges of the global shortage of semiconductors well, thanks to comprehensive counter-measures, and have been able to take advantage of the opportunities of the positive market development.”

“The high numbers of vehicles delivered, even exceeding levels before the crisis, and good profitability are a clear confirmation of the capabilities of our company and the attractiveness of our product portfolio,” he added.

The post Audi announces best ever first half sales – 981,681 cars sold globally in 1H 2021, RM19.6 bil pre-tax profit appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.



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