Audi Sells More Cars Than Mercedes-Benz in Q1

As far as luxury brands go, Audi has been on a roll with its new products and therefore, sales figures. However, many didn't take it completely seriously when they stated their goal to become the largest luxury brand by 2015.

However, they are hitting milestones along the way to that - and priming new volume products, like the A1, to hit their goals. Latest milestone? Passing Mercedes-Benz in sales for the first quarter of 2010.

BMW still hasn't released their sales figures, but between January and March of this year, Audi sold 264,100 cars while Mercedes-Benz sold 248,500 units. No small feat, to be sure. That tally is also a record for the brand - setting it back on the path to growth after difficult economic times.

The Chinese market is primarily responsible for this development -  Audi sells twice as many vehicles per year in the market as Mercedes-Benz does.

Audi has to surpass BMW and Mercedes to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s leading luxury carmaker by 2015. To do so, it needs to sell 1.5 million units per year. With the way things are going, it looks like that could be in reach for Audi.