Despite the dieselgate scandal that caused a huge stir in the automotive industry recently, the Volkswagen Group remains the world’s second largest automaker behind Toyota after selling 9.93 million vehicles worldwide in 2015.
“Delivering almost 10 million vehicles is an excellent result, particularly in view of the continued challenging market situation in some regions as well as the diesel issue in the final quarter of last year”, Matthias Müller, CEO of Volkswagen. He went on to say, “While developments on markets in Brazil and Russia had a noticeable impact on deliveries by our brands, we made advances in Europe. We also recorded further growth in the North America region and in the USA.”
3.43 million customers in Western Europe took possession of a new vehicle from the Volkswagen Group in 2015, representing a rise of 4.8%. The delivery situation in Germany remained positive at the end of the year (+4.0%). The Volkswagen Group also reported increases on other markets in Western Europe. Growth was particularly strong in Spain (+16.1%) and Italy (+8.8%). The tense situation in Russia (-36.8%) continued to impact deliveries in Central and Eastern Europe. As a result of these developments, the Volkswagen Group delivered more than 4 million units in one year for the first time in the overall European region.
The company also recorded growth in North America in 2015, handing over 931,800 vehicles there. At 607,100 units – an increase of 1.2% – the United States accounted for the lion’s share of these deliveries. Group deliveries in the tense South America region, however, continued to fall (-29.8%). This trend is chiefly attributable to deliveries in Brazil, which totaled 389,900 units.
The Group delivered 3.93 million vehicles in the twelve-month period in the Asia-Pacific region, of which 3.55 million units were handed over to customers in China, the Group’s largest single market.
