BERLIN - German luxury carmaker Audi achieved a new record for global sales during the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 thanks to strong Chinese demand, the Ingolstadt-based company told press on Monday.

Audi sold 463,800 vehicles during the first three months of 2018, marking a 9.8-percent increase compared to the same period last year. The Volkswagen-subsidiary witnessed a boom in sales in China (plus 42 percent).

"The record start to the year provides us with important momentum," a statement by Bram Schot, Audi's head of sales, read.

Q1 sales grew rapidly in the United States as well (plus 10 percent) where the carmaker's line of SUVs in particular enjoyed growing popularity among customers.

By contrast, European and German sales fell sharply by 5.8 percent and 9.0 percent respectively in March. The company mainly attributed the weak performance to its ongoing overhaul of many of its key regional models, including the A7, A6, A1 and Q1.