Volkswagen Group posts increased sales in Q1, no thanks to the VW brand which continues to struggle.

• 968,300 vehicles handed over in March / +2.3 per cent
• Group Board Member for Sales Christian Klingler: “No guarantee this will be successful year.”

The Volkswagen Group delivered 2.49 million vehicles from January to March (January-March 2014: 2.44; +1.8 per cent). The Company handed over 968,300 (March 2014: 946,900; +2.3 per cent) vehicles to customers in the month of March. “The delivery trend for the first three months shows there is no guarantee this will be a successful year,” 

Group Board Member for Sales Christian Klingler said in Wolfsburg on Friday. “We saw positive momentum in Western Europe. However, uncertainty – sometimes significant – continues to prevail on markets in Central and Eastern Europe as well as South America,” Klingler continued.

Group brands delivered a total of 1.02 (0.98; +4.1 per cent) million vehicles on the overall European market in the first quarter, of which 556,100 (525,100; +5.9 per cent) were handed over in Western Europe (excluding Germany). 

314,800 (288,700; +9.1 per cent) customers chose a new vehicle from the Group in the home market of Germany, while Europe’s largest automaker delivered 147,500 (165,000; -10.6 per cent) units in Central and Eastern Europe. In Russia 43,500 (68,300; -36.4 per cent) customers took possession of a new vehicle.

The Company delivered 205,800 (197,800; +4.1 per cent) vehicles in the North America region from January to March, of which 131,600 (133,500; -1.4 per cent) were handed over in the United States. 

The Volkswagen Group delivered 152,800 (185,400; -17.6 per cent) vehicles to customers in the South American region during the same period, of which 110,900 (142,300; -22.1 per cent) were handed over in Brazil.

The Group recorded slight growth in deliveries in the Asia-Pacific region and reached the million mark for the first time in the first quarter of a year, handing over 1.00 (0.98; +2.1 per cent) million vehicles to customers there, of which 898,400 (881,100; +2.0 per cent) units were delivered in China, the Group’s largest single market.

Outline of developments at Group brands

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 1.48 (1.50; -1.3 percent) million vehicles to customers worldwide in the first quarter of 2015.

The premium brand Audi handed over 438,200 (412,800) vehicles in the first three months of the year, an increase of 6.1 per cent.

The sports car manufacturer Porsche delivered a total of 51,100 (38,700) vehicles, representing an increase of 32.2 per cent compared with the previous year.

The Czech brand ŠKODA delivered 265,100 (247,200) vehicles from January to March, a rise of 7.2 per cent.

SEAT handed over 102,700 (93,400; +10.0 per cent) vehicles to customers worldwide in the first quarter.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 108,200 (103,200; +4.8 per cent) vehicles during the same period.

The MAN brand delivered 22,100 (26,400; -16.4 per cent) units from January to March.

The Swedish brand Scania delivered 17,500 (18,800; -7.1 per cent) heavy trucks and buses to customers in the period to March.