Volkswagen has issues in various regions which has hit its sales for the January-October period.

• Brand Board of Management Member Jürgen Stackmann: “We are working intensively to regain customers’ trust.”

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 4.84 million vehicles to customers from January to October this year. “The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand is experiencing challenging times. We not only face the diesel and CO₂ issues but also tense situations on world markets,” explained Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Sales, Marketing and After-Sales. “Developments in Brazil and Russia continue to give cause for concern, while we were able to grow again on the Chinese market in October.”

In China, its largest single market, the brand grew deliveries in October by 1.8 per cent and was therefore able to stop the downward trend. In the entire Asia-Pacific region, the brand delivered 2.32 million units from January to October.

Stackmann added: “In Western Europe, the temporary sales stops for vehicles affected by the diesel issue had an impact on sales.” In October, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 1.3 per cent fewer vehicles in Western Europe than in the corresponding month of the previous year. 

However, the brand was able to grow slightly in Germany, Spain and Italy. In some markets of Central and Eastern Europe, the brand recorded significant growth. While the downturn in Russia continued (-25.7 per cent), deliveries in the Czech Republic and Poland rose markedly.

Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered 3.5 per cent more vehicles in the North America region in October. Once again, there was a slight increase in the United States, amounting to 0.2 per cent. 

On the other hand, the South America region continued to feel the effects of the challenging situation in Brazil, where deliveries to new customers reached 291,300 vehicles from January to October. The decline in Brazil was reflected by deliveries in the South America region as a whole (-27.2 per cent).

Stackmann commented on the current situation: “The entire company is working to restore the trust of our customers in the brand and our products. 

We will take care of each individual customer who is affected.” In view of the remedial action which is to start next year, Stackmann said that the brand faced an enormous challenge which it would shoulder together with Volkswagen dealerships. 

“In our Volkswagen dealerships throughout the world, we have fantastic teams who do an outstanding job every day. Together, we want to provide our customers with excellent support in this situation and to convince them that they took the right decision in choosing a Volkswagen,” Stackmann said. 

He added that the technical measures required and the time schedule for remedial action were currently being discussed with the authorities and would be announced as soon as possible. Stackmann: “Even though we must still ask customers for a little patience, we will work intensively on their loyalty and satisfaction, which are our top priority.”

Overview of deliveries by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand:

Deliveries to customers by markets	October 2015	October 2014	Change (%)	Jan.-Oct. 2015	Jan.-Oct. 2014	Change (%)
Europe	142,300	143,800	-1.1	1,441,100	1,403,700	+2.7
Western Europe	123,000	124,700	-1.3	1,269,900	1,203,100	+5.5
Germany	54,500	53,500	+1.9	503,000	483,500	+4.0
Central and Eastern Europe	19,200	19,100	+0.5	171,200	200,500	-14.6
Russia	6,900	9,300	-25.7	62,900	103,100	-39.0
North America	51,400	49,600	+3.5	494,700	482,300	+2.6
USA	30,400	30,300	+0.2	294,600	301,200	-2.2
South America	34,800	59,700	-41.8	398,700	547,800	-27.2
Brazil	23,800	47,300	-49.6	291,300	443,900	-34.4
Asia-Pacific	244,600	246,800	-0.9	2,321,700	2,471,500	-6.1
China	233,500	229,400	+1.8	2,147,500	2,295,800	-6.5
Worldwide	490,000	517,400	-5.3	4,839,600	5,080,700	-4.7