Audi posts strong Feb sales and sees solid Q1

German luxury car maker Audi said Monday it anticipated a solid first quarter after February sales gained almost 20 percent from a year earlier.

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Audi said it delivered 75,900 vehicles in February, an increase of 19.9 percent, "mainly thanks to our leading position in China and Western Europe," and strong sales in the United States, sales director Peter Schwarzenbauer said in a statement.

Chinese sales soared 61.7 percent, while US deliveries were 35.7 percent higher, the statement said.

"We are on course for a strong first quarter," Schwarzenbauer said.

In January, Audi sales surpassed those German rival Daimler, maker of Mercedes Benz, and they are currently running neck and neck. BMW is nonetheless set to remain the best-selling luxury brand, saying last month that February sales gained "around 14 percent" from the year earlier figure of 80,542 vehicles.

After getting slammed by the global economic slowdown, German luxury car
makers see much brighter prospects for sales this year.