Record For Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand: Annual Vehicle Deliveries Top 4.5 Million For First Time

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – January 10, 2011: The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand ended 2010 with a new record: 4.50 (3.95; +13.9 percent) million vehicles were delivered to customers worldwide for the first time in a twelve-month period. “Thanks to its innovative and environmentally-friendly new models such as the Touran and Sharan, Touareg and Passat, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand has come up with an excellent performance in a difficult market environment and significantly strengthened its competitive position,” Group Board member for Sales Christian Klingler said in Wolfsburg on Friday.

The Volkswagen brand reported substantial growth on key markets such as China, the USA, Russia and India. Over 1.51 (1.12; +35.5 percent) million vehicles were delivered for the first time in China (incl. Hong Kong) during the full year 2010. In the USA, 256,800 (213,500; +20.3 percent) vehicles were handed over to customers. In Russia, vehicle deliveries ran at 58,900 (39,500) units, representing a year-on-year rise of as much as 49.1 percent. Developments in India were also particularly gratifying, with the Volkswagen brand reporting a significant rise in unit volumes, delivering 30,300 (2,800) vehicles, or more than ten times as many models as in the previous year.

Brand deliveries in the entire Asia/Pacific region during the last twelve months grew 37.6 percent to 1.65 (1.20) million vehicles, while the number of vehicles delivered by Volkswagen in the North America region rose to 406,400 (344,800; 17.9 percent) units, and the brand reported a 2.9 percent increase in South America to 756,500 (735,100) units. Delivery levels in Europe remained largely stable, with the Volkswagen brand handing over 1.55 (1.56; -1.2 percent) million vehicles to customers and therefore performing better than the overall market, which contracted by 2.5 percent.