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Audi Says Margins May Shrink as It Chases BMW

Audi AG cautions that its profit margins are likely to fall again this year as it boosts spending to overtake rival BMW AG and become the world's highest-volume maker of luxury cars.
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Audi AG cautions that its profit margins are likely to fall again this year as it boosts spending to overtake rival BMW AG and become the world's highest-volume maker of luxury cars.

Audi's profit margin shrank from 10.1% in 2013 to 9.6% last year. The company says it will spend more than €24 billion by 2019 on new products, including electric vehicles and other technologies to enhance fuel efficiency. The expansion will add eight models by the end of the decade.

BMW brand vehicles outsold Audi last year by 70,000 units. But Audi sales in January-February this year climbed to 260,300 compared with 256,000 for BMW.

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