The Volkswagen Group achieved the first goal of its Strategy 2018 last year: “In 2014, our Group delivered over ten million vehicles in total to customers, ranging from the e-up!* city car to heavy commercial vehicles. That is impressive confirmation we are vigorously implementing our Strategy 2018 despite challenging market conditions. We are also making good progress with our other main goals – return on sales, customer satisfaction and top employer”, the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, said in Detroit on Sunday. In total, 10.14 (prior year: 9.73; +4.2 percent) million vehicles were handed over to customers worldwide from January to December 2014.
Developments in the month of December were also positive, with deliveries running at 881,000 (December 2013: 857600; +2.7 percent) units. Group Board member for Sales Christian Klingler commented: “Our Group has doubled vehicle deliveries in the last ten years. That is an outstanding performance and an impressive result, and all Group brands have played their part in achieving this despite at times very difficult market conditions.”
Including the figures for heavy commercial vehicles, Group brands delivered a total of 3.95 (3.75; +5.1 percent) million vehicles to customers on the overall European market in 2014. 2.03 (1.90; +7.2 percent) million customers took possession of a new vehicle in Western Europe (excluding Germany). 1.24 (1.19; +4.5 percent) million units were delivered in the home market of Germany. The Group handed over 670,900 (668,300; +0.4 percent) vehicles to customers in Central and Eastern Europe in the period to December, of which 275,800 (316,000; -12.7 percent) were delivered in Russia.
The company delivered 891,900 (890,600; +0.2 percent) vehicles in the North America region from January to December, of which 599,700 (611,800; -2.0 percent) were handed over to customers in the United States. The Volkswagen Group delivered 795,700 (992,300; -19.8 percent) vehicles in the South America region during the same period, of which 629,800 (755,200; -16.6 percent) were handed over to customers in Brazil.
The Group continued to record encouraging figures in the Asia-Pacific region, where annual deliveries topped the four-million mark for the first time. The Group handed over 4.06 (3.65; +11.3 percent) million vehicles there from January to December, of which 3.68 (3.27; +12.4 percent) million were delivered to customers in China (incl. Hong Kong), the Group’s largest single market.
Outline of developments at Group brands
The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 6.12 million vehicles to customers worldwide from January to December 2014. This means the brand has doubled deliveries since 2004, and topped the six-million mark for the first time.
Audi delivered 1.74 (1.58) million vehicles to customers worldwide in 2014, a substantial increase of 10.5 percent. The premium brand from Ingolstadt grew deliveries year-on-year in almost all regions.
The sports car manufacturer Porsche delivered a total of 189,800 (162,100; +17.1 percent) vehicles in the period to December. Demand for models from the Stuttgart-based carmaker was particularly high in Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.
The ŠKODA brand delivered over one million units worldwide for the first time in the period from January to December 2014, handing over 1.04 (0.92) million vehicles to customers, a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percent.
SEAT delivered 390,500 (355,000) vehicles worldwide in the period to December 2014, a year-on-year rise of 10.0 percent.
The Group’s three commercial vehicles brands, MAN, Scania and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, delivered 646,500 (683,200; -5.4 percent) heavy and light commercial vehicles worldwide in 2014 against the backdrop of weaker developments in Europe, Russia and South America. MAN accounted for 120,100 (140,300; -14.4 percent) of these vehicles. The Swedish brand Scania handed over 79,800 (80,500; -0.8 percent) heavy commercial vehicles and buses to customers in 2014. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 446,600 (462,400; -3.4 percent) units in the period to December.
*e-up! power consumption in kWh/100km: 11.7 (combined); CO2 emission in g/km: 0 (combined); efficiency class: A+