FRANKFURT - Volkswagen's premium carmaker Audi (NSUG.DE) tweaked its 2009 sales target higher by some 5,000 units to 925,000 vehicles, it said on Monday after revealing volumes edged 0.4 percent up in October.

Including the 82,750 sold last month, volumes fell 6.7 percent in the first ten months to 787,900 vehicles.

The only major premium carmaker to expect its 2009 unit sales to drop by less than 10 percent, Audi has benefited mainly from a surge in demand in China and a relatively low exposure to the U.S. market.

Our sales figures worldwide have developed much better than expected, Audi sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said in a statement.

The Audi Q5 (sport utility vehicle) is emerging as one of our most successful models. And in particular the A5 and A6 model lines are selling well, he continued.

Schwarzenbauer only days ago told a German newspaper that he expected sales of over 920,000 vehicles this year versus the record 1 million from 2008.

Earlier BMW said it expected BMW brand sales of clearly over 1 million vehicles after selling 1.20 million units of its flagship marque last year.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)

China Volkswagen Target