Report: Audi Offers Aid to China Dealers

Audi AG is offering some 1.2 billion yuan ($193 million) to its dealers in China to offset the financial burden of slowing sales growth, sources tell Bloomberg News.

The sources say Audi also has trimmed its sales target in China this year from 600,000 units to roughly 579,000 the volume it sold there in 2014.

Audi's move follows similar steps by BMW, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen. The aid began after at least 50 Toyota dealers threatened in January to quit because of the cost of maintaining big inventories of unsold cars. At the time, the China Automobile Dealers Assn. estimated 95% of Toyota's outlets in China were losing money.