Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Audi AG, Volkswagen AG's luxury-car unit, will extend the Christmas break at its German factories to trim output amid the widening global financial crisis.

``Audi is running well, but our path will naturally increasingly be influenced by hard external factors,'' Rupert Stadler, chief executive officer of the Ingolstadt, Germany-based company, said today in an e-mailed statement. ``In production, we will selectively use the time around Christmas to proceed cautiously into 2009.''

Newer models have helped Audi sidestep the effects of the financial crisis, which has eroded sales at rivals Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz. Audi said today that October sales rose 7.2 percent to 82,400 cars and sport- utility vehicles, led by growth in China and Italy and demand for new versions of the A4 and A6 sedans. BMW's sales, by contrast, fell 8.3 percent to 113,005 last month, while Mercedes-Benz's deliveries plunged 18 percent to 93,800 vehicles.

Audi spokeswoman Esther Bahne said the company hasn't yet decided on the duration of the production break at its key German factories in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Audi makes A3, A4 and A5 models in Ingolstadt and the A4, A6 and A8 in Neckarsulm.

In the 10 months through October, Audi's deliveries rose 3.3 percent to 844,700 vehicles. Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi's head of sales, said that the carmaker ``will achieve'' its goal of selling a record 1 million cars this year ``despite the current difficult economic situation.''

Audi is banking on the introduction of the new Q5 SUV, which arrives at dealer showrooms in mid-November, to boost sales in the final weeks of the year.

Sales in October were led by a 25 percent jump in sales in China to 9,600 autos. Italian deliveries rose 10 percent to 5,509. Sales in the U.S. and Germany were essentially unchanged at 7,443 and 23,802, respectively.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 10, 2008 06:14 EST