VW sales continue to soar despite problems in the home European market.
The Volkswagen Group continues to post record sales despite the European downturn and unexpectedly poor demand in China.
VW’s group sales have increased 8.4% to 3.65 million units for the first five months of 2012 despite the nervous state of the global economy. In May, Europe’s largest automaker delivered 763,800 or 7.8% more vehicles worldwide than it did in 2011, the company reports.
“Our worldwide deliveries have risen further, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Despite this generally positive trend we continue to focus very closely on the growing uncertainties in the Eurozone,” Group Board Member for Sales Christian Klingler cautioned.
The Group brands delivered increased 1.5% to 1.58 million vehicles in the overall European market from January to May. The problem was Western Europe, were 825,800 were delivered, a drop of 6%. Not all was bleak on the home front, however, Volkswagen Group deliveries climbing 4% in Germany to 493,900.
In the Asia-Pacific region, VW’s sales increased 17.8% to 1.23 million for the January to May period. Notably, VW saw sales surge 17.5% in China despite that market’s economic cool-down that has many analysts wondering if it will meet even modest sales growth targets of 6 to 10% for all of 2012.
It was, in fact, a significant period of VW, marking the first time the maker’s sales topped the one million mark in a five-month period for a given year.
In India, the automakers deliveries increased 11.9%.
Developments on the American continent were also positive, unit sales rising 29% during the first five months to 318,700. In fact, VW is struggling to meet demand for the new Passat sedan produced at its new Chattanooga assembly plant and will shortly add another shift there. Volkswagen Group of America CEO Jonathan Browning recently told TheDetroitBureau.com the maker is looking for ways to break bottlenecks that could allow the Tennessee facility to boost annual output to 250,000.
Sales of Volkswagen Passenger Cars increased 9.4% during the five-month period from January to May. The brand developed particularly well in the Central and Eastern Europe region, where sales increased 50.8%, a sharp contrast to the situation in Western Europe.
Audi sales increased 12.1% to 600,200 units vehicles worldwide during the first five months of 2012. The premium brand developed particularly well in the Asia-Pacific region, where customers took delivery of 189,000 units. In the North America region, Audi delivered 64,000 vehicles in the same period, an increase of 14.1%.
The Czech-based Skoda brand delivered a total of 405,500 vehicles in the period to May. The automaker increased sales by 8.6% and it performed especially well in Central and Eastern Europe, where sales increased 17.3%.
With a dozen brands, if Porsche is included, the VW Group does have one dark spot. The Spanish-based Seat brand continues to struggle for identity – and customers, worldwide sales plunging 12% for the five-month period, to 134,300. Long-standing industry scuttlebutt suggests VW may be looking for an option to either kick-start Seat or kick it out of the group.