Audi is targeting another year of record car sales in 2015, helped by growing demand in world markets, but said profitability could slip further amid spending on technology, models and foreign expansion.
Audi, the profit engine of the Volkswagen group, aims to expand its model range to 60 upmarket cars and sport-utility vehicles (SUV) by 2020 from 52 now, and is spending more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) on new factories in Mexico and Brazil.
"The profit development (this year) will continue to reflect our company's extensive expenditure for the future," finance chief Axel Strotbek said at an annual press conference in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Audi stuck to its 8 to 10 percent target range for its margin on operating profit this year, after the benchmark for comparing profitability with German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz slipped to 9.6 percent last year from 10.1 percent in 2013.
The pace of sales growth has been slowing at Audi, which is in the midst of renewing its lineup with overhauls of the top-selling A4 saloon and the flagship Q7 SUV coming to market this year.
Audi, source of about 40 percent of VW group profit, narrowly outsold Mercedes-Benz in February with two-month deliveries up 7.4 percent, although that was only about half the pace of the Stuttgart-based rival's sales gain.
Luxury-sales champion BMW said on Tuesday deliveries of its core brand were up 5.2 percent in February to 131,416, beating Audi and Mercedes' total.
The VW division expects to outpace volume growth in world markets, predicting car sales to set another record after last year's 1.74 million deliveries.
The gain may bring about a "moderate" rise in revenue which in 2014 climbed 7.8 percent to 53.8 billion euros.
Parent VW last month stuck to its profit guidance even after delivering record earnings last year, citing volatility in key markets such as Russia and Brazil.
The group's operating margin may fall this year, VW said, giving a target range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent after reaching 6.3 percent last year.