- Sales of the Audi R8 grew by 87 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
- Audi’s EVs were among its only hot sellers in the first quarter of the year.
- Sales of the German automaker’s SUVs sagged, leading overall deliveries to fall 16 percent.
After 18 years in the lineup spanning two generations, production of the Audi R8 officially concluded late last month. Despite no official confirmation of a direct successor, the much-loved supercar witnessed a fitting farewell as its sales nearly doubled in its final months in the lineup.
Whether it’s because of a quirk of the market, or enthusiasts are eager to take their final opportunity to order an R8 to their exact specifications, sales of the V10 supercar reached 181 in the first quarter of the year, up 87 percent as compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Read: The Supercar Era Is Over At Audi As R8 Production Ends
And it wasn’t the only high-performance Audi to attract a lot of buyers. Sales of the four ring brand’s all-electric sports car, the e-tron GT, were up 7 percent as compared to a year ago. That amounts to a total of 776 deliveries in the first three months of the year.
In fact, the whole e-tron range got off to a good start this year. Audi managed to move 1,905 Q4 e-trons and 773 Q4 Sportback e-trons in Q1 2024, which is 14 percent and 54 percent more, respectively, than it did a year go.
Meanwhile, it delivered 1,614 Q8 e-trons and 646 Q8 Sportback e-trons. That’s an increase of 53 percent for the standard SUV, and 34 percent for the coupe-roofed SUV, so far this year.
Sales weren’t as positive for the rest of the lineup, however. While Audi saw increases of 2 percent for the A6, 10 percent for the A8, and a notable 80 percent for the Q3 in the first quarter of the year, sales declined across the board for the remainder of the lineup.
Audi’s SUV lineup, in particular, took a hit, with sales of the Q5, Q7, and Q8 all declining by more than 30 percent. The A4 saw the most significant drop, with sales down 53 percent at the beginning of the year, closely followed by the TT.
However, considering that production of the two-door model ended in November 2023, it’s not surprising that its sales were down by 81 percent over the last three months.
Overall, despite Audi’s efforts with its EV lineup, the brand still experienced a challenging quarter. The downturn in sales across its SUV lineup was particularly impactful, resulting in an overall decrease of 16 percent in sales to start the year.