Chinese New Year Affects Audi, Will Hit Volkswagen Even Harder
Audi’s global deliveries were “clearly lower” than in January, Audi’s CEO Rupert Stadler told Reuters reporter Andreas Cremer in Geneva. Audi’s global sales were up 16.3 percent in January. There won’t be a minus said Stadler, even while fighting the lunar calendar, Audi will report a single digit plus.
Audi’s numbers won’t be the only ones that won’t look as good as the month before.
Reporting the January numbers, Volkswagen cautioned that “the sizable increase in China” was “due to the later date set for the Chinese New Year.” The company warned that “for February, we expect a decline in deliveries in China as a result of this special effect.” Make that a serious decline. Most of China was closed in February.
When Volkswagen reports group numbers later in the month, they definitely will be affected by China’s New Year, those of the Volkswagen Passenger Vehicle brand more so than those of Audi.
28 percent of Audi’s global sales were in China last year. Volkswagen Passenger Cars has a 38 percent exposure to the vagaries of the Chinese New Year.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
Must be an old picture, as it's been a while since any Audi had a practical grille on it.
I get the brotherly brand competition, but isn't this like saying "Buick is outselling Chevy"? Don't all Audi's, Volkswagen's, Porsche's, Bentley's, and Lambo's all share the same ownership (and probably many parts)? If I'm correct, it sounds like the "family" is doing well in China.
Why is Ford wasting time with introducing the Lincoln name plate in China? For that matter why does Ford even waste any money on Lincoln at all? Its obvious that Lincoln is about as useful as Mercury was in its final days.
If VW China were a bit more shrewd, they'd throw in a military license plate with each new car. Then, Audi's would be flying out the showroom faster than Li Shuangjiang's kid can get arrested.