Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 444,900 vehicles to customers all over the world in the 2014 financial year. This corresponds to a rise of two per cent over the previous year. In 2013, the brand sold 436,000 vehicles. In particular, there was a significant increase in sales to Western Europe (+6.5 per cent) with a total of 292,000 units compared to the previous year.
“Excellent results and excellent team work,” commented Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “We would particularly like to thank our customers for the trust placed in us. We intend to continue this success with our new models this year“.
In 2014, the Volkswagen Transporter delivered a total of 168,600 units (2013: 156,300). This boosted the number of vehicles delivered to customers by 7.9 per cent. High demand for this model meant that in summer 2014, the Hannover plant had to work additional shifts.
The Volkswagen Caddy consolidated its excellent position with delivery of 148,900 vehicles (2013: 146,600; +1.6 per cent). As a result production for the Volkswagen Caddy ran at full capacity. The Volkswagen Crafter also recorded strong growth over the previous year with 49,200 units sold (2013: 44,100; + 11.6 per cent). By contrast, delivery of the Volkswagen Amarok dropped by 12.2 per cent to 78,100 units, mainly due to the economic crisis in South America (2013: 89,000).
Good delivery figures on profitable markets
“We managed to increase our delivery figures especially in the important and profitable region of Western Europe,” said Bram Schot, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “These results give us a solid foundation for the forthcoming market launches. So we are well equipped to face the challenges of the coming months. We can start the new year with confidence, even if the highly competitive environment and the difficult economic situation in Brazil, Argentina and Russia will pose some problems in 2015.”
In Western Europe Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 292,000 light commercial vehicles from the T5, Caddy, Amarok and Crafter model series (2013: 274,200; +6.5 per cent). Especially the markets in the United Kingdom (+11.8 per cent), France (+10.3 per cent), the Netherlands (+7.6 per cent), Germany (+4.6 per cent) and a recovery in Spain (+ 32.5 per cent) resulted in an increase in deliveries compared to the previous year. In Mexico more than 6,000 vehicles were delivered. This is equivalent to an increase of 39.1 per cent. On the whole, the Volkswagen Amarok and the market launch of the Volkswagen Caddy contributed to the good results.
In South America sales of Volkswagen commercial vehicles dropped by 46.5 per cent to 40,900 light commercial vehicles and pick-ups (2013: 76,500). This was due to the end of production of the T2 in Brazil of which 1,700 units were sold in 2014 (2013: 26,400 vehicles).
In Eastern Europe Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles recorded a drop of 6.1 per cent to 37,700units (2013: 40,100). The situation in Russia played a major role here with a drop of 20.8 per cent to 12,600 vehicles (2013: 15,900).
In Africa and the Middle East deliveries remained largely buoyant at 19,800 units and 27,400 units (Africa 2013: 20,100; -1.7 per cent / Middle East 2013: 26,900; +1.7 per cent) respectively. In the Asia-Pacific region the brand’s delivery volume rose to 22,700 vehicles (2013: 20,200; +12.7 per cent).