The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand handed over 1.94 million vehicles to customers worldwide in the first four months of the year, thus almost matching the prior-year level (1.98 million). 476,700 units were delivered in April 2016, 3.9 percent fewer than the comparable month last year (April 2015: 496,000). “At the moment, China along with Central and Eastern Europe are the only growth regions for the Volkswagen brand,” Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Sales, Marketing and After-Sales, said, commenting on the situation. “However, we are pleased to note that deliveries in the North America region rose in April for the first time this year, and were 4.0 percent higher than the same month in 2015.”
In terms of regional developments worldwide, Volkswagen delivered 579,500 vehicles to customers on the overall European market from January to April, on a par with the prior-year level. At 511,000 units, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand kept deliveries in Western Europe almost stable. Deliveries to customers in Central and Eastern Europe in this period rose by 4.1 percent. While the situation in Russia continued to decline (-10.2 percent), there was a marked increase in deliveries in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. According to Stackmann, “the Tiguan is currently being launched successfully on European markets and ramp-up is in full swing. We expect positive momentum for the remainder of this year from this important new product. The same applies for the Touran, the Bora and the Magotan in China.”
The brand delivered 50,700 units in the North America region in the fourth month of this year, an increase of 4.0 percent compared with April 2015. Deliveries developed particularly well on the Mexican market. In April, 31,900 vehicles were handed over to customers in South America, where the overall market situation remained difficult. The year-on-year downturn in Brazil is still clearly noticeable; however, the refreshed Volkswagen Gol launched at the beginning of the year was the bestselling model in 10 of the country’s 26 states in April 2016.
In China, Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered a total of 939,400 vehicles to customers in the first four months of the year, a 4.4 percent increase on the comparable prior-year period. This is a new delivery record for the first four months of a year.