Audi records record profits for 2011 German top-of-the-range carmaker Audi, the premium brand of Volkswagen, said on Thursday that profits rose to new records in 2011, and earnings would again match those levels this year. Audi said in its annual report that net profit soared by 69 percent to 4.44 billion euros ($5.90 billion) in 2011. Operating profit jumped by 60.1 percent to 5.348 billion euros and sales were up 24.4 percent at 44.096 billion euros, while deliveries rose by 16.9 percent to 1.512 million vehicles. "The Audi Group once again set records for deliveries, revenue and key earnings data in 2011," boasted management board chief Rupert Stadler. Never before have we had such a large increase in deliveries in a single year. 2011 was the most successful year in the history of our company. We want to continue on this path in 2012 and grow more strongly than the market as a whole," Stadler said. In profit terms, "assuming there no major changes in the underlying economic situation, Audi plans to generate an operating profit for 2012 in line with the level attained in 2011," the car maker said.