INGOLSTADT, Germany (Dow Jones)--German luxury car maker Audi AG's (NSU.XE) sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said Monday that China might overtake Germany as the luxury car maker's largest single market this year.
Speaking on the sidelines of an evening event at Audi's headquarters, Schwarzenbauer told Dow Jones Newswires that Germany and China might account for roughly similar sales volumes in coming years depending on the respective launch of new models in the two counties.
But in the long term, China will emerge as the biggest sales region due to its large growth potential, he said.
Audi is performing "strongly...[and] better than expected" in the U.K. and the U.S., Schwarzenbauer said, but he noted that there are no signs for a market rebound in Russia so far.
Earlier Monday, Audi reported a 20% global sales rise in February to about 75,900 vehicles as a 62% sales jump in China more than offset a 3.3% decline in its home market in Germany.
In January and February, Audi sold 31,906 cars in China, up 86% year-on-year, compared with 27,304 cars in Germany, up 1.7%. Audi previously has said it expects China to become its largest sales region in 2012 or 2013.
