Of course here in Australia we never really had a recession although most people in the car industry are sure we did and it’s easy to see where they’re coming from when you look at the way car sales fell during 2009.
In other parts of the world there was just no doubt … there was a recession and we all know what that meant for many car makers.
But now … if the sale of new high-end vehicles is anything to go by … the recession is well and truly over and you need to look no further than Audi’s January sale figures for proof.
In January Audi sold 77,800 new cars worldwide … an increase of 39 percent on the same time last year. China was Audi’s shining star with 16,798 new vehicles sold … an increase of 114.9 percent on the same time last year.
In the United Kingdom Audi sold 9,004 new vehicles … an increase of 42.9 percent and even in the poor struggling United States Audi was able to lift its sales figures by 37.9 percent compared to the same time last year.
Understandably Audi is now expecting “a strong first quarter in 2010.”
Going on those figures I guess it’s safe to say that the recession is over … at least for now.