He claimed margins were running at 2.3 per cent and had “doubled in pound note terms”.

Audi has vowed it will continue to build upon the record 100,000 new car sales it achieved in 2007. “We'll do more this year,” claimed Hicks.

He said last year's 15,000 hike in registrations equalled the total sales of some of the brand's prestige competitors. (Lexus sold 15,119 units last year, according to the SMMT while Jaguar registered fewer than 19,000 cars.) With an order bank of 30,000, Hicks said: “We're desperate to get hold of the cars.” He claimed Audi had not yet felt any fall in demand due to the struggling economy and pointed to 12 per cent sales growth in January. He said customers were increasingly ordering cars to their own specifications and so were prepared to wait three months for delivery. Any longer and the situation would become “difficult” he admitted. He said the brand had undertaken a major overhaul of its 119-strong network to increase showroom, workshop and used car capacities. Audi helps its dealers expand through its Site Acquisition Programme.

The carmaker sources and builds premises for its franchise partners which then run the sites on a leasehold basis. Hicks said 19 enlarged sites were currently under construction, including centres in Nottingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester and Belfast. The West London centre, which is set to open before the end of the year and will be run by Sytner, will be the largest Audi dealership in the world. Hicks said dealers had also “willingly invested” to expand their businesses. Over the last three years he said average showroom capacity had grown from eight to 15 cars while workshops now had 20 ramps compared to five. In order to keep customers within its network the brand aims to promote a clear policy on standards and costs in servicing in 2008. “The retention of first and second owners is our focus,” Hicks said.