2015 Audi A3 Propels Four-rings Brand to 43rd Straight Sales Record

white audi a3

The launch of the new 2015 Audi A3 compact luxury sedan has been a streak saver for the Audi company: Thanks primarily to the A3's 2,164 deliveries in July, the four-rings brand was able to post its 43rd consecutive month of sales records, and by a fairly large, double-digit margin. But the thing is, although the brand's 14,616 sales were 11.9 percent higher than in July of last year, its volume would have been firmly in the red without the 2015 Audi A3.

More than half of the lineup actually lost ground in July, with only the Audi A8 (+11.3 percent on 503 sales) and Audi Q7 (+8.9 percent) joining the 2015 Audi A3 with significant volume improvements.

On the other other hand, Audi points to particularly low dealer inventories as a limiting factor on sales, exacerbated by a combination of strong interest in Audi vehicles and the current transition period between the 2014 and 2015 model years. But look for that to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Explained Mark Del Rosso, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Audi of America: “Due to the sustained high demand for our Premium cars, we needed to move our 2015 model year release ahead of schedule as supply became available early July. That gives us tremendous confidence heading into the second half of the year with the new Audi A3 Cabriolet, A3 Sedan TDI and the S3 performance model reaching showrooms within weeks, and the new Q3 crossover arriving later this fall.”

For those interested in the latest additions to the 2015 Audi A3 family, opening MSRPs for those new entries are:

• 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet—$35,600
• 2015 Audi A3 Sedan TDI—$32,600
• 2015 Audi S3—$41,100

The entry point to the 2015 Audi A3 roster starts at $29,900.

(Pricing for the 2015 Audi Q3 has yet to be released.)