Despite ranking third, Audi sales hit record in 2016

Luxury car brand Audi stated its deliveries increased to a new record in 2016 despite the diesel emissions scandal, although that would likely not be enough to save it from dropping into third location behind luxury car competitors Mercedes-Benz and BMW in worldwide sales rankings.

The key factor to Volkswagen group profit increased sales of high-end cars and sport-utility vehicles to 1.87 million units from 1.80 million, a spokesperson stated on Saturday.

Ingolstadt-based Audi raised deliveries by 4 percent in the US where Volkswagen’s emissions scandal broke in 2015 and reported 6.4 percent more sales in Britain, its No. 2 European market, the spokesperson stated, verifying figures first reported by German newspaper Die Welt in its Saturday edition.

Audi is due to release main figures for December on Monday, like parent Volkswagen. They are anticipated to show it has dropped into 3rd place from second in terms of worldwide luxury vehicle brands.

The luxury automaker may begin selling diesel vehicles again in the United States after deliveries were prohibited in the wake of the scandal, though a decision hasn’t been taken yet, Die Welt mentioned sales chief Dietmar Voggenreiter as stating in an interview.

By contrast, Volkswagen’s name brand prepares to drop the technology in the U.S. as it reboots its method in the Americas post-dieselgate, brand chief Herbert Diess has stated.