- Audi’s US sales dropped 30 percent to below 30,000 units in Q1.
- Electric e-tron models collapse sharply as EV demand cools in US.
- Audi trails BMW and Lexus as luxury rivals post smaller declines.
Audi may have joined the high-octane world of F1 for 2026, but its road car division seems to have stalled on the grid. New data shows the brand shifted just 29,886 cars in Q1 in the US, down a hefty 30 percent, and while it’s blaming tariffs and a cooling market, the scoreboard says rivals are taking the punch better.
The biggest story sits right in the middle of Audi’s lineup. The Q5 remains the brand’s hero with 10,100 sales, but even that’s down 26 percent. The now retired Q3 dropped 20 percent, while the Q7 slid 30 percent and the Q8 fell 25 percent. SUVs are supposed to be the backbone of a modern automaker’s lineup, but Audi’s utilities aren’t pulling their weight.
Review: Audi’s 2026 SQ5 Drives Like It Costs More And Feels Like It Costs Less
Sedans, however, offered a rare bit of sunshine. The A5 climbed 6 percent and the A6 jumped 9 percent, suggesting there’s still life in the low slung crowd. The A3 barely nudged up 1 percent, while the A7 and A8 took hits of 72 percent and 43 percent respectively. The A7’s performance can be explained by the fact that it was dropped for 2026, but the A8, which dies this summer, can’t use the same excuse.
The electric side of the equation is even worse. The e tron GT dropped 75 percent to just 63 units, the Q4 e tron plunged 93 percent to a pathetic 90 units, and the Q6 e tron cratered 90 percent to 309 examples sold. A few new variants are just getting started, such as the A6 e-tron, but right now Audi’s EV program is massively underperforming.
New Sales Down, Used Sales Up
Certified pre owned sales are a small bright spot, at least, up 6 percent to 12,820 units. That tells you demand for the four rings hasn’t vanished, it’s just finding cheaper ways to stick around. Not that it helps sales of new cars much.
Put Audi’s Q1 results next to the competition’s and things get even clearer. BMW moved 84,231 vehicles, down just 3.9 percent, Mercedes’ 70,000 vehicle effort was down 3 percent, while Lexus delivered 80,952 units, slipping only 2.5 percent. Audi says help is on the way with a new Q3 and incoming Q7 and Q9. That help can’t come soon enough.
