Volkswagen Passenger Cars still struggles, but sales are there, or there abouts, ripe for a turnabout to growth.

• At 495,900 units, deliveries in May remain at previous year's level
• Brand Board Member for Sales Jürgen Stackmann: "Deliveries in May at 2015 level. Strong impetus for orders from new Tiguan since market launch."

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand handed over 2.43 million vehicles to customers in the first five months of 2016, almost matching the prior year level (2.48 million vehicles). 

495,900 units were delivered in May, compared with 499,500 units in the comparable month last year. Jürgen Stackmann, Board Member for Sales, explained: "in May, our worldwide deliveries were at the same level as in 2015. 

In China, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand achieved further growth, while deliveries in Europe remained stable at the prior year level. The market launch of the new Tiguan in Europe has been successful – it will set the pace over the next few months."

There were differences between developments in the various regions of the world in May 2016. In Europe as a whole, 148,100 vehicles were delivered in this period, representing a rise of 1.6 percent compared with the previous year. 

Despite a slight fall in deliveries in the home market of Germany (-5.8 percent), 129,400 vehicles were handed over to customers in Western Europe in May 2016, slightly above the figure for the corresponding month of the previous year (+0.4 percent). Up to the end of May 2016, the Tiguan had already generated more than 49,000 orders in Western Europe.

 

Stackmann added: "The diesel recall campaign has started successfully and now includes the key models Golf, Tiguan and Passat. Independent market studies also confirm that the residual values of our vehicles in Europe are stable."

Once again, developments in Central and Eastern Europe were strong, with 18,700 vehicles handed over to customers in the month of May, corresponding to a rise of 11.3 percent compared with the previous year. For the first time 

in 2016, the Russian market remained stable compared with the previous year, with slight growth of 0.3 percent in May. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary continued to drive growth in this region.

The brand delivered 229,800 vehicles in the North American region from January to May, representing a decline of 4.8% over the comparable period of the previous year. 

125,200 vehicles were handed over to customers in the USA, some 13.1% fewer than in 2015. Developments in the Mexican market were significantly more positive and a sales record was reported in May for the fourth month in succession. 

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand was also affected by the generally weak markets in South America, where deliveries fell significantly compared with the previous year to 150,800 vehicles in the year to May.

In Asia, performance continued to be strong, especially in China. In May, 232,400 vehicles were handed over to customers, corresponding to a rise of 5.7% compared with the previous year. In January to May, a new record was posted in China, with 1,171,800 vehicles delivered.

Overview of deliveries by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand:

 

Deliveries to customers by markets	May 2016	May 2015	Change (%)	Jan.-May 2016	Jan.-May 2015	Change (%)
Europe	148,100	145,700	+1.6	727,700	727,800	0.0
Western Europe	129,400	129,000	+0.4	640,400	645,100	-0.7
Germany	48,000	50,900	-5.8	239,300	249,000	-3.9
Central and Eastern Europe	18,700	16,800	+11.3	87,300	82,700	+5.6
Russia	5,600	5,600	+0.3	27,400	29,800	-8.1
North America	51,600	56,200	-8.2	229,800	241,300	-4.8
USA	28,800	34,800	-17.2	125,200	144,000	-13.1
South America	30,500	40,300	-24.3	150,800	207,700	-27.4
Brazil	20,300	29,600	-31.5	101,200	155,700	-35.0
Asia-Pacific	247,700	236,400	+4.8	1,247,600	1,208,400	+3.2
China	232,400	219,900	+5.7	1,171,800	1,119,300	+4.7
Worldwide	495,900	499,500	-0.7	2,432,200	2,475,000	-1.7