Audi deliveries fall 6.1% in Q1
Audi reported a 6.1% drop in first‑quarter deliveries, a headline that can presage pricing or mix pressure for OEMs and suppliers. Analysts would break the decline down by geography, model mix and EV versus ICE to judge whether unit weakness will translate into margin erosion. (investing.com)
Audi delivered 360,106 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026, down 6.1% from a year earlier as sales weakened in China and North America. (reuters.com) China, Audi’s biggest market, fell 12% to 127,109 vehicles in January through March. North America dropped 27% to 35,464 vehicles, while Europe rose 5.9% to 123,724. (reuters.com) Audi said the China decline reflected a broader auto slowdown, the end of government subsidies and model changeovers. In North America, the company pointed to United States import tariffs introduced in April 2025 and other regulatory changes. (reuters.com) The drop adds to a weak start to 2026 for Volkswagen Group, which reported 2.05 million deliveries in the quarter, down 4% from 2.13 million a year earlier. The group said China deliveries fell 15% and North America fell 13%, even as Western Europe rose 4%. (volkswagen-group.com) Audi’s sales matter beyond one brand because deliveries are an early read on factory utilization, pricing power and product mix. Audi’s 2025 annual report said revenue rose to 65.5 billion euros last year, but operating return on sales was 5.1% and was pressured by United States tariff costs, carbon-dioxide compliance provisions and restructuring expenses. (audi.com) The pressure is landing in Audi’s two hardest markets. Audi said it delivered 617,514 vehicles in China in 2025, down 5%, and described competition there as intense. (audi-mediacenter.com) Audi finished 2025 with more than 1.6 million deliveries worldwide, down about 3%, though it said monthly deliveries had been rising year over year from September through December. Orders were up more than 13% for the year, and orders for electric models rose about 58%. (audi-mediacenter.com) Electric vehicles remain one offset. Audi said deliveries of its fully electric models topped 223,000 in 2025, up about 36%, and in the first quarter of 2025 electric deliveries had risen 30.1% to 46,371 units even as total group deliveries slipped. (audi-mediacenter.com) (media.audi.com) Volkswagen Group said it expects help later this year from new models in Europe and locally developed electric vehicles in China. For Audi, the first-quarter numbers show how much that recovery still depends on turning Europe’s growth into a counterweight to China and North America. (volkswagen-group.com)
