SALES of Audi cars are losing momentum as demand for Volkswagen’s luxury brand slumps in China, causing it to slip behind German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

    Audi deliveries rose 1.4 percent in July to 146,100 cars as gains in Europe and the United States offset a 12.5 percent plunge in China, the VW division’s largest market, the carmaker said Friday.

    However, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have now outsold Audi for two months in a row. They had July deliveries of 147,513 cars and 149,753 cars respectively.

    It was the first month this year that Mercedes has come out on top. Audi has ranked as the world’s second largest luxury carmaker by sales since 2011.

    “The market situation in China has remained challenging as expected, exacerbated by the stock market turmoil,” Audi sales chief Luca de Meo said. Audi sells almost a third of its cars in China.

    Strong demand for a raft of redesigned models has enabled Mercedes-Benz to draw level with Audi after seven months of the year, with both selling 1.048 million cars. That compares with 1.079 million at BMW.

    Munich-based BMW, which has kept the luxury sales crown for a decade, last year outsold Audi by 70,000 vehicles. Audi’s lead over Mercedes-Benz fell by a fifth to 91,000 autos, according to company data.(SD-Agencies)