Volkswagen Group Develops Noticeably Better also in April than Overall Market
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WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – May 18, 2009: The Volkswagen Group has again developed noticeably better than the global automotive market. In an overall market down by approximately 20 percent, the Group delivered 541,600 vehicles (April 2008: 568,100; -4.7 percent). “With our Group’s attractive model range we have largely been able to buck the trend and are on target with these figures,” Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President, Group Sales and Marketing, commented in Wolfsburg on Monday. With conditions remaining difficult, the Volkswagen brand even sold more vehicles in April. Compared with the same month in 2008, the core brand delivered 339,500 passenger cars (335,100), a rise of 1.3 percent.
For the first four months of 2009, the Group therefore reported deliveries of 1.93 (2.14; -9.6 percent) million vehicles, and the Volkswagen brand reported deliveries of 1.22 (1.26; -3.2 percent) million vehicles. The world market, however, fell by 21 percent during the same period. The Audi, SEAT and Škoda brands also fared better than the market. "In contrast to the temporary special situation on the German market and the positive trend on the Chinese market, global automotive markets remain very weak and there is no recovery in sight. Nevertheless, we still expect to perform better than the overall market," Wittig said.
Group stronger than its competitors in Europe
As in previous
months, the Group again fared better than its competitors in the Europe
sales region in April. While overall sales on the passenger car market in
Europe fell by 21.5 percent, the Group reported a significantly smaller
drop of 9.1 percent to 294,900 (324,400) units. The Volkswagen brand
performed even better with 141,200 (144,600; -2.3 percent) vehicles sold.
Developments in France were particularly pleasing. In a market down 7
percent, the Group delivered 23,800 (22,400) vehicles, representing a rise
of 6.5 percent, while the Volkswagen brand grew deliveries by 16.0 percent
to 13,200 (11,400) units. This confirms the positive trend of previous
months and the improved situation in particular with regard to availability
of Polo and Golf models.
Developments for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in Russia were gratifying. Here, Volkswagen grew deliveries by 2.9 percent to 3,800 (3,700) units in a market which was down almost 60 percent.
Scrapping premium continues to boost business in Germany
In
Germany, Group brands delivered 118,200 (98,600; +19.9 percent) vehicles in
April. The Volkswagen brand sold 63,300 (50,700; +24.8 percent) vehicles on
its home market. There was continued strong demand for the VW Fox, Polo,
Golf and Tiguan as well as the Škoda Roomster, Škoda Fabia,
Škoda Octavia and SEAT Ibiza. Customer response remained high due to
the scrapping premium: by the end of April orders for over 129,500
(105,000; +23.3 percent) vehicles had been placed under the scrapping
program.
Developments in North and South America and Asia/Pacific also well
above average
The Group also pulled ahead of the general market
trend in the other major sales regions despite the continuing tense
situation. In South America, the Volkswagen Group delivered 61,800 (70,600;
-12.5 percent) vehicles in April on an automotive market that was 22
percent down. 37,900 (42,200) vehicles were delivered in North America.
This represents a drop of 10.1 percent compared with an overall market
downturn of 33 percent. In the Asia/Pacific region, there was a slight 0.3
percent upswing in the market in April. The Volkswagen Group reported
noticeably above-average growth in the region, delivering 131,500 vehicles
(111,200; +18.2 percent). On the market in China in particular, which
showed clear signs of recovery, deliveries rose to 121,300 units (100,200;
+21.1 percent).
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