INGOLSTADT, Germany -

Pick a line on its financial statement — operating profit, revenue, worldwide deliveries — and Audi Group posted superlatives that helped the luxury automaker wrap up the 2010 fiscal year with record results.

Company executives revealed Tuesday their 2010 operating profit spiked by 108.2 percent to 3.340 billion Euros, up from 1.604 billion Euros during the previous year. They calculated Audi’s profit before tax came in at 3.634 billion Euros, an 88.5-percent rise above the year-ago figure of 1.928 billion Euros. As a result, the automaker calculated its profit after tax rose by 95.2 percent to 2.630 billion Euros, a rise from last year’s total of 1.347 billion Euros.

To generate all of that profit, Audi indicated 2010 was the best year for sales in company history. Deliveries of Audi brand vehicles on worldwide markets rose last year by 15 percent to 1,092,411. Revenue climbed 18.8 percent to 35.441 billion Euros from 29.840 billion Euros posted in 2009.

The company said it increased its operating return on those sales to 9.4 percent from the 2009 level of 5.4 percent. Audi determined its return on investment also reached a new peak at 24.7 percent, up from the 2009 mark of 11.5 percent.

“After the crisis of 2009, 2010 was a year full of unexpected turns of events — mainly for the better," Rupert Stadler, Audi chairman of the board of management, told the press and analysts who gathering to learn the company’s performance Tuesday.

“We experienced the astonishing momentum with which the pendulum of growth swung back in the opposite direction, but also just how shaky the foundations of the upturn still are,” Stadler continued. “An unusual year, then, that we will undoubtedly remember for a long time to come — because here at Audi, we made the very best of this opportunity for our company.

“It proves that our measured but decisive course throughout the crisis was absolutely right. The Audi brand is now stronger than ever before,” he added.

Yet one other broad financial element supported Stadler’s claims. Audi reported its net liquidity increased by 25.5 percent to 13.383 billion Euros. That’s up from its 2009 liquidity amount of 10.665 billion Euros.

“When we presented our key financial indicators to you here one year ago, our outlook for 2010 was one of cautious optimism,” Audi chief financial officer Axel Strotbek conceded.

“Now, a year later, we are able to look back on what has been an exciting time,” Strotbek declared. “A few developments took us by surprise; others turned out as we had hoped, and we were prepared for a great deal. Because uppermost in our minds was always the desire to use the period during and after the crisis as advantageously as possible. And thus today we are pleased to announce a new record profit.

“We have more than achieved our goals of both increasing revenue and further optimizing our cost structures,” he went on to say. “We are enjoying sustainable and profitable growth and can offer our customers a broad range of products.”

Audi Notes Sales Growth in China, U.S.

Stadler mentioned that Audi broke sales records in more than 40 markets last year. The automaker surpassed the 100,000-unit mark in the U.S. for the first time.

China continued to be a strong market for Audi as well as Stadler noted the OEM moved its 1 millionth unit there last year. For 2010, Audi reported 227,938 sales in China, 43.4 percent more than in the previous year.

“Our aim for 2011 is to do even better and achieve a new deliveries total of 1.2 million cars,” Stadler declared, referring to the automaker’s worldwide sales goal.

Audi Divulges Investment Plans

The company said it’s ready to add 1,200 new workers, part of the largest investment program in its history.

Audi revealed that it plans to invest more than 11 billion Euros before 2015 — with about 9.5 billion Euros going to the development of new products in connection with hybrid models and electromobility. The company also intends to spend more than 5 billion Euros at its Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites in Germany.

The automaker also mentioned an enlargement of its model range in the coming years at an “unslowed pace.”

Stadler asserted that “Our attention remains particularly focused on the subject of sustainability. At Audi we believe this includes not only increasing the efficiency of our cars and the development of electric and hybrid models, but also the sustainable handling of resources.”

Current Year Off to Encouraging Start

As analysts discussed how much growth Audi could enjoy, the automaker shared how the first two months of 2011 have helped it toward that goal of more than 1.2 million deliveries to worldwide customers.

The company computed that it sold about 186,850 units worldwide during the first two months of this year. That amount represents a 21.6-percent rise from the opening two months of 2010.

Audi found its European markets have been exhibiting strong momentum as sales have grown by 17.5 percent to about 106,600 units. In the German domestic market alone, Audi said it delivered 32,290 vehicles, constituting an 18.3-percent jumped compared with the previous year’s two-month total of 27,304.

Combining January and February, the brand indicated 41,122 Chinese customers chose an Audi — 28.9 percent more than during the same period in 2010 when 31,906 did. The nameplate discovered sales continued to grow sharply in the United States as deliveries climbed by 22.3 percent to 15,565, up from 12,726 units in the same period last year.

“The signs for 2011 are good after a year which ended better than we expected back in January 2010,” Stadler stated.

“We expect continued growth in the overall economy this year, even if there is a slight weakening in comparison with the previous year,” he continued. “Nonetheless, we have to remain alert, since the unpredictability of the financial and raw materials markets still carry a risk.

“We want to deliver more than 1.2 million Audi cars to customers worldwide during the current year, and thus build upon the success of the record year in 2010 without interruption,” Stadler emphasized.

Strotbek added, “We are growing sustainably and are targeting an operating return on sales at the same high level as the previous year.