January 11, 2022 – Despite the global shortage of semiconductor supplies, Audi is determined to drive its transition to the future of high-end sustainable mobility. In 2021, Audi's pure electric vehicle sales performed well, up 57.5% from 2020. At the same time, Audi's lineup of pure electric models will increase from 3 to 7 in 2021. Despite tight supply, customer deliveries for the Audi brand are still basically the same as in 2020: in 2021, the number of customers under the Fourth Ring brand reached 1,680,512 units.
"2021 was challenging, but thanks to the efforts of the global team, we have successfully overcome the difficulties," said He Ximan, Director of Sales and Marketing at Audi AG. With Audi's 'Vorsprung 2030' strategy, we have a clear transformation plan. Our continued courageous change is paying off: we decided a long time ago to develop zero-emission drive systems, and the current strong demand for Audi electric models confirms the correctness of our decision. We will maintain this momentum in 2022 and systematically drive our transformation process. The large number of new orders also proves that the Audi model lineup is very attractive. ”
In the first half of 2021, Audi sold 981,681 units worldwide, the best sales record in the company's history for the same period. In the second half of the year, the impact of the shortage of semiconductor supply is more significant. In the fourth quarter, Audi deliveries were down 34.2 percent from the same period in 2020.
Despite this, sales of Audi pure electric models continue to rise. In 2021, Audi sold 81,894 pure electric models, an increase of 57.5% year-on-year. By 2025, Audi plans to launch more than 20 pure electric models. From 2026 onwards, All of Audi's new models for the global market will be all electric models.
At the beginning of 2021, Audi launched the Audi e-tron GT and the Audi RS e-tron GT, setting the industry benchmark. At the same time, the Audi Q4 e-tron and Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron also play an important role in Audi's electrification strategy. With these four models, Audi's lineup of all-electric models in 2021 has doubled.
At the same time, Audi has also defined its investment plan for the electrification strategy: Based on the plan approved at the end of 2021, Audi will invest 18 billion euros in pure electric and plug-in hybrid models between 2022 and 2026. During this period, Audi plans to invest about 37 billion euros in future models, which also means that nearly half of Audi's investment will enter two forward-looking areas.
In addition to the pure electric model, sales of models such as the Audi Q3, Audi A5 and Audi A7 also rose sharply, up 19.2%, 8.3% and 9.2% respectively. At the same time, the SUV market also performed very well: Sales of the Audi Q5 and Audi Q7 both increased by 5.3%. Sales of high-performance models from Audi Sport hit another record high, reaching 39,356 units in 2021, up 34.2 percent year-on-year.
In the Chinese market, Audi delivered 701,289 vehicles in 2021. Demand for Imported Audi models increased significantly, with sales up 53% year-on-year. Among them, the Audi A5 (+96.7%) and Audi Q7 (+74.4%) performed particularly well. Sales of all-electric Audi e-tron models also surged 68.7 percent. In addition, sales of Audi Sport models more than doubled (+113.4%) compared to 2020.
In 2021, Audi and SAIC Motor reached the second joint venture in China, thus forming the most powerful partner layout in China's automotive industry. As the first international high-end car manufacturer to enter the Chinese market, Audi achieved a milestone of 7 million vehicles in China in 2021. Looking forward to 2022, Audi will continue to deepen its cooperation with local partners FAW and SAIC To further promote the sustainable development of the Sihuan brand in China.
In 2022, with the delivery of the first batch of SAIC Audi models and the launch of Audi's first pure electric vehicle models Q4 e-tron and Q5 e-tron (Audi's first "Roadjet land jet" model) based on the MEB platform, Audi's product offensive in China will take to a new level. In addition, the all-electric flagship Audi e-tron GT model will also be available later this year. By the end of 2022, Audi will sell nine electrified models in China. By 2025, Audi plans to offer five locally produced pure electric models to customers in China.
As the global automotive industry enters the digital age, Audi is comprehensively upgrading its products and services, leading the digital transformation process and creating a people-oriented customer journey. On January 1st, the world's largest Audi Enterprise was grandly opened in Shanghai. Its combination of online and offline businesses and tailor-made products and services for Chinese customers is a microcosm of Audi's sales model innovation in China. In terms of product innovation, China is the first market in the world for Audi to introduce a 5G communication module that supports C-V2X functionality to a production model. Audi A7L and Audi A6L models equipped with this module and functions are already available. In the future, related hardware and functions will also be promoted to more mass production models. In addition, Audi will introduce more advanced autonomous driving and automatic parking functions for domestic models in the future to continue to meet the intelligent needs of Chinese customers.
"In China, for China – Audi will work with local partners FAW and SAIC to further focus on meeting the unique needs of its Customers in China," said Dr. Wen Zeyue, President of Audi China. Jürgen Unser said, "In addition to continuing to build quality products, Audi is also transforming into a sustainable provider of high-end personal mobility, and the Chinese market is driving this change." ”
In the U.S. market, Audi delivered 196,038 vehicles in 2021. In addition, the delivery volume of pure electric models also hit a record high, up 52.5% from 2020. Market demand for Audi SUV models continued to be high, with sales of Audi Q3 and Audi Q5 models rising by 26.5% and 19.6%, respectively. Audi Sport models also reached a record high in the U.S., up 60.5 percent, to 7,796 units.
In the European market, Audi delivered 617,048 vehicles throughout the year last year, essentially unchanged from 2020 levels. Among them, the market demand for Audi A3 (+3.6%), Audi Q3 (+5.6%), Audi Q5 (+18.6%) and Audi Q8 (+1.8%) showed an increasing trend. It is worth mentioning that audi has set new sales records in the Danish and Norwegian markets due to its excellent performance in the electric model market. In Germany, the Sihuan brand delivered 180,883 vehicles to customers, with sales of Audi e-tron models increasing by 10.3 percent.
In other global markets, Audi sold 137,347 vehicles, up 3.1% year-on-year. Electric vehicle sales increased particularly significantly, up 89.6% year-on-year from 2020 levels.
"While semiconductor supply issues will continue to have an impact in the coming months, the outstanding performance of electric models will provide strong support for our firm implementation of the development roadmap," he said, "the large number of new orders, as well as the highest order level in history, prove the strength of audi's product spectrum." ”