The Volkswagen brand delivered 515,500 vehicles to customers worldwide in January, a drop of 3.4 percent compared with the same month in 2018. Positive delivery trends in Russia (+10.9 percent) and Brazil (+10.8 percent) could not offset decreases in China (-3.1 percent), Western Europe (-4.8 percent) and North America (-8.6 percent). Volkswagen Board Member for Sales Jürgen Stackmann: “As expected, we could not quite match the January 2018 record level this year. Volkswagen won market share in China in a persistently uncertain overall market, despite the decline in deliveries. The order balance is high and, as announced, we are working hard on expanding capacity for our petrol engines in order to better serve high demand during the course of the year. New models such as the T-Cross and the Passat facelift that debuted recently will be launched in the coming months and provide a tailwind.”
Deliveries in the regions and markets in January developed as follows:
- In Europe, the Volkswagen brand delivered 131,300 vehicles, 3.0 percent down on the same month last year. Markets in Western Europe presented a mixed picture, with Volkswagen delivering112,200 vehicles in total there, a decline of 4.8 percent compared with the previous year. Core markets such as France (+22.6 percent), the UK (+4.4 percent), Italy (+9.6 percent) and Spain (+6.6 percent) recorded growth, sometimes quite significant, but could not compensate for declines in Germany and other markets.
- In the home market of Germany, Volkswagen handed over 39,300 vehicles to customers, 9.2 percent down on the very strong performance in January 2018. Here, as in other markets in Western Europe, the limited availability of petrol engines had an impact. The e-Golf enjoyed continued high demand in Germany, with deliveries growing more than 50 percent compared with the same month last year.
- In Central and Eastern Europe, the signs are still set for growth. Compared with the same month in 2018, Volkswagen grew deliveries 9.0 percent in January to 19,100 vehicles. One growth driver was Russia, where 6,200 vehicles were handed over to customers (+10.9 percent).
Please click here to view the full press release.
SOURCE: Volkswagen
