Volkswagen passenger car brand deliveries increased 4 percent in July

By Christian Nordqvist

In July, 2014, Volkswagen passenger car brand deliveries increased by 4% to 491,600 units compared to 472,800 in July 2013, driven by strong demand in Western Europe and Asia Pacific, Germany’s largest automaker announced today. Sales in other parts of the world declined.

Deliveries for the first seven months of this year rose by 3.8% to 3.6 million vehicles compared to the same period in 2013.

Christian Klingler, Board Member for Sales and Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, said:

“We are pleased with the way the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand has started the second half of the year. The Asia-Pacific region tops the delivery table, followed by Western Europe. But we are still facing challenging market developments in some sales regions.”

Contrasting results across the world

Below is a breakdown of sales from January to July 2014 compared to January to July 2013, according to regions:

  • All Europe: 1 million units, versus 0.98 million in the same period in 2013. An increase of +2.9%.
  • Western Europe (excl. Germany): 517,200 vehicles, a +5% increase on 517,200 last year.
  • Germany: 340,700 units, compared to 328,400 last year, a +3.7% increase.

    Christian Klinger
    Mr. Klinger says some markets remain “challenging”.
  • Central + Eastern Europe: 146,300 vehicles, a decline of -5.6% on last year’s 154,900.
  • Russia: sales declined by -15.7% to 76,400, versus 90,600 last year.
  • North America: 333,400 units, or -8% fewer than the 362,400 sold in the same period in 2013.
  • USA: 209,700 cars, a drop of -13.6% on last year’s 242,600. In January, the company announced a $7 billion investment plan for North America, as well as a new 7-seater SUV for the region in 2016. While overall sales have recovered after the Great Recession, they have failed to do so in the United States.
  • South America: 372,300, which was -20.1% fewer than the 465,700 delivered in the previous year. Sales fell by -15% in Brazil to 301,800 (355,200 in 2013).
  • Asia Pacific: 1.72 million vehicles, an increase of 16.2% compared to last year’s 1.48 million.
  • China (including Hong Kong): 1.6 million units, an increase of +17.9% on 2013’s 1.36 million.

Volkswagen is based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It is now the world’s second biggest automaker, after Toyota. In July, GM was pushed into third place. Analysts forecast that VW will take the lead within the next 18 months.