Deliveries of Audi cars and sport-utility vehicles increased 14.4 percent in April to 125,200, the company said on Wednesday. Sales of BMW brand models rose 7.4 percent, about half of Audi's pace, to 121,476 cars.

Audi has narrowed the gap with BMW on year-to-date deliveries, which rose 11.7 percent to 471,300. That compares with a 10.1 percent gain to 478,030 vehicles at its Munich-based rival. A spokeswoman for Audi said monthly sales at the VW unit last surpassed BMW in January 2011.

Audi is vying with Daimler's (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz division, which it surpassed on sales last year, to grab the sales lead in luxury autos by the end of the decade. The VW unit has a goal of doubling deliveries to about 2 million by 2020.

"Audi will remain the No. 1 challenger to BMW over the next four to five years," said Frank Schwope, an analyst with NordLB in Hanover. "They're firmly rooted in lucrative markets and benefit greatly from VW resources."

(Reporting By Andreas Cremer; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

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