From January to July this year, the Volkswagen Group delivered 5.83 (January to July 2014: 5.89; -1.0 percent) million vehicles. In July, the Group handed 792,100 (July 2014: 822,200; -3.7 percent) vehicles over to customers. “The overall economic situations in China, Russia and Brazil continue to be tense. At the beginning of the second half of the year, the Volkswagen Group was not entirely immune from these developments. To a certain extent, we did experience a tailwind in North America and especially in Europe,” Group Board Member for Sales Christian Klingler said in Wolfsburg on Tuesday. “In the second half of the year, we expect the patchy development of markets to remain a key factor in the various regions,” Klingler added.
On the overall European market, Group brands delivered 2.45 (2.37; +3.7 percent) million vehicles from January to July. These included 1.32 (1.23; +7.2 percent) million vehicles in Western Europe (excluding Germany). In the home market of Germany, 781,700 (739,500; +5.7 percent) customers opted for a new vehicle from the Volkswagen Group. The Group delivered 354,400 (397,500; -10.8 percent) vehicles in Central and Eastern Europe. Significant increases in the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary were insufficient to compensate for the tense situation in Russia, where deliveries fell by 40.3 percent to 97,600 (163,400) units.
Group deliveries in North America continued to grow, reaching 533,000 (501,900; +6.2 percent) vehicles in the period to July. These included 349,000 (337,700; +3.4 percent) vehicles delivered in the USA. The situation in South America, where the Volkswagen Group delivered 346,400 (449,000; -22.9 percent) units from January to July 2015, remained tense. While deliveries in Argentina once again rose, there was a fall to 245,900 (354,300;
-30.6 percent) vehicles delivered in Brazil.
In the Asia-Pacific sales region, 2.22 (2.32; -4.1 percent) million vehicles were delivered to customers in the period to July. As market leader, the Volkswagen Group was not immune to the continuing downturn in China, delivering 1.99 (2.10; -5.3 percent) million units in its largest single market.
Outline of developments at Group brands
The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 3.40 (3.56; -4.3 percent) million vehicles to customers worldwide in the first seven months of 2015.
The premium brand Audi handed over 1.05 (1.01) million vehicles worldwide from January to July, an increase of 3.5 percent.
The sports car manufacturer Porsche delivered a total of 134,700 (104,900) vehicles in the period to July, representing an increase of 28.5 percent compared with the previous year.
The Czech brand ŠKODA delivered 627,100 (605,300) vehicles from January to July, a rise of 3.6 percent.
SEAT handed over 251,300 (234,600; + 7.1 percent) vehicles to customers worldwide in the first seven months of the year.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 256,600 (255,400; +0.4 percent) vehicles during the same period.
The MAN brand delivered 58,600 (67,500; -13.2 percent) units from January to July.
The Swedish brand Scania handed over 43,400 (42,000; +3.2 percent) heavy trucks and buses to customers in the period to July.