AUDI has announced record worldwide sales. In the first four months of this year, the manufacturer sold about 259,000 cars, up more than 4% on the same period last year, when it sold 248,924 vehicles.

Ralph Weyler, member of the board for marketing and sales at Audi AG, said: 'This record figure has been achieved despite the run-out of the A6 saloon. The Audi A8 and Audi A3 (pictured) both contributed significantly to this success, with sales of both models rising sharply compared with the previous year.

'With the launch of the new Audi A6 taking place in the last few days, we are confident that we will achieve a new record figure for vehicle sales again for 2004 as a whole.'