New Volkswagen record as 1.99M passenger cars delivered

Volkswagen has delivered nearly two million passenger cars in the first four months of 2014, setting a new record for the period. 1.99 million vehicles were handed over to customers in the period to April, representing an increase of 4.6 per cent (January-April 2013: 1.91 million). Christian Klingler, board member for sales and marketing for the Volkswagen Group, attributed the success to “good sales developments in China and Europe” and “sustained high demand” for heritage products such as the Golf, now in its seventh generation.

Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered 567,800 (545,300; +4.1 per cent) vehicles on the overall European market in the first four months, of which 298,400 (279,300; +6.8 per cent) were handed over in Western Europe (excluding Germany). Deliveries on the home market of Germany rose slightly to 184,100 (180,500; +2.0 per cent) units. Developments in the Central and Eastern Europe region in the period to April were stable, with deliveries running at 85,300 (85,500; -0.2 percent) units. The company handed over 45,800 (49,500; -7.4 percent) vehicles to customers in Russia during the same period.

The biggest movers in VW’s global markets were registered positively in the Asia-Pacific region, and negatively in the Americas. The brand recorded a 16.2 per cent increase in deliveries in the Asia-Pacific region in the period to April, handing over 993,400 (855,100) vehicles. 921,400 (783,900; +17.5 per cent) models were delivered in China (including Hong Kong) during the same period.

VW delivered 182,700 (196,200; -6.9 per cent) vehicles in the North America region, of which 118,200 (131,800; -10.4 percent) models were handed over to customers in the United States. In the South America region, deliveries from January to April declined to 183,900 (235,200; -21.8 per cent) units, of which 144,700 (175,600; -17.6 per cent) were handed over in Brazil.

Klingler noted that in spite of the record-setting period, “the global market is still a mixed bag and therefore remains challenging,”