BERLIN (Reuters) - Audi (DE:VOWG_p) outsold closest rival Mercedes-Benz (DE:DAIGn) for a seventh straight month this year, with its deliveries rising almost 10 percent in July as a strong showing in the United States and China offset slumping demand in Russia.
Volkswagen's flagship luxury brand posted a 9.7 percent rise in sales to 144,000 cars and sport-utility vehicles, as double-digit percentage gains in the United States, China and Brazil outweighed a 12 percent drop in Russia, Audi said on Thursday.
Audi's seven-month sales increased 11 percent to a record 1.01 million autos, keeping the brand on track to push full-year deliveries "significantly" above 1.6 million.
German rival Mercedes-Benz, which dropped behind Audi into third place in 2011 in the global premium sales race, posted a 11.3 percent gain in July deliveries to 130,003.
Germany's three major premium carmakers, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and leader BMW (DE:BMWG) have closed in on each other this year, with Audi narrowing its six-month sales gap with BMW to 17,000 cars from 24,000 a year ago. BMW is expected to publish July sales this week.
Audi's year-to-date sales lead over Mercedes has narrowed marginally to 99,827 cars, compared with 100,561 a year ago, according to company records.
Ingolstadt-based Audi, the main contributor to VW group profit, is grappling with a deepening slump in demand in Russia, where sales plunged 12 percent last month to 2,600 models, following declines of 3.3 percent and 4.2 percent respectively in June and May.
Audi last year started production at parent VW's Russian plant in Kaluga to serve demand for the A6, A7 and A8 high-end models as well as the Q5 and Q7 SUVs.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mark Potter)