Audi swims against the tide

Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hofmann has a positive outlook formed by the brand's stunning sales performances in a sagging overall market - Audi is year-to-date running six per cent ahead of the first four months of last year in a car market down 19-20 per cent.

While his cohorts at other companies are reluctant to tip a 2009 Australian new vehicle market of more than 800,000-850,000, Hofmann has a more encouraging forecast.

"I think the market has come to the bottom but will recover to be around 880,000 to 900,000 units - a bit more than 10 per cent down on last year.

"The Aussie economy isn't all that bad." Which is why he's tipping another record year for Audi sales here.

Will Audi beat BMW?

"Not this year, but Audi will overtake BMW in the future."