Volkswagen’s Audi brand is a rarity in today’s slumping auto market, posting sales gains when most other automakers are experiencing huge sales declines. In fact, Audi says that its sales goal of 1 million units is still on for 2008. But despite those encouraging numbers, the German automaker will slow its vehicle production as it braces for what could be a very difficult 2009.

Through the first 10 months of the year, Audi’s sales are up 3.3 percent to 844,700 units, according to Reuters. Moreover, Audi posted a sales gain of 7.2 percent in October – the same month that General Motors’ sales fell more than 45 percent. But Audi head Rupert Stadler is well aware that the market will likely take a turn for the worst in 2009 and wants to make sure that Audi’s production doesn’t outpace market demand by idling some plants over the Christmas holiday.

“In some areas of production we will take advantage of the Christmas period to maneuver carefully into 2009,” Stadler said in a statement. Stadler failed to mention how long the extended Christmas break will be, but Audi could idle some of its plants for several weeks.

Audi’s cross-country rivals have already been feeling the crunch of the economic slowdown, with Mercedes-Benz posting a 21 percent sales decline and BMW reporting a 9.2 percent reduction in sales.

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