Daily Auto News Audi Vehicles in Limited Supply
Daily Auto News
Audi shoppers may have to wait a bit longer than expected before driving off in their brand new cars. “The German luxury brand witnessed its strongest first quarter ever, but the boon in sales has the company facing a shortage in inventory in the United States — a key market for the automaker,” reports Automobile Magazine.
“Last year, Audi cut U.S. deliveries by 6,000 units due to weak sales here in the States, but the German luxury automaker saw brisk sales in December followed by a first quarter that bested the first three months of 2009 by 35 percent,” explains Autoblog. “Audi now has a 29 day supply of product for U.S. dealers; about half the typical 60 day reserve and a third of the 88 day supply of March, 2009.”
Johan de Nysschen, Audi of America’s president, recently spoke with Automotive News. “De Nysschen says inventories of every Audi product — from the A3 to the R8 — are at critical levels, with supplies of both the Q5 and Q7 extremely limited,” reports Automobile Magazine. “First-quarter Q7 sales were higher than anticipated, and Q5 sales were double what they were compared to the first quarter of 2009. Both A3 and A5 sales were also up over 100 percent when compared to last year.”
Though the supply shortage may increase the number of missed sales opportunities, there is a positive side to it — for Audi at least. While other brands are practically giving their cars away, “Audi’s supply shortage helped the automaker keep incentives flat during the period,” says the Examiner. Still, Audi plans to increase the U.S. supply of Audi vehicles by 3,000 to better meet demand. If you’re in the market for an Audi, it may make sense to wait for supplies to catch up, and prices to come down.
If you’re in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.
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