For the first time in its history, the VW Passenger Cars brand delivered over three million vehicles in the first six months of a year. It happened in the first half of this year, when a total of 3.07 million vehicles were handed over to customers globally, accounting for an increase of 3.8 percent.
In June alone, Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered 514,900 vehicles (+1.1 percent). In the overall European market, VW Passenger Cars sold 864,100 vehicles (+2.4 percent) in the first six months of the year, of which 451,300 units (+5.5 percent) were handed over to customers in Western Europe (excluding Germany).
Deliveries in the company’s home market also increased to 285,700 vehicles (+0.8 percent), while in Central and Eastern Europe Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered 127,100 units, 4.0 percent less than in the same period last year. Deliveries in Russia saw an even greater decline as 67,400 vehicles were sold there, 12.8 percent less than in the first half of 2013.
In the Asia-Pacific region, deliveries grew by 16.8 percent, with the brand handing over 1.50 million vehicles to customers, 1.39 million of which were sold in China (including Hong Kong). In the North America region deliveries fell by 8.7 percent to 282,600 units, of which 179,100 (-13.4 percent) were handed over in the United States. Finally, in the South America region, deliveries fell by 21.1 percent to 317,300 units, 255,700 of which (-16.7 percent) were handed over in Brazil.
“The Golf in particular continues to be a bestseller – not only as a classic Golf, but also in the Variant or Sportsvan versions”, said Christian Klingler, Board Member for Sales and Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. However, he warned that “the situation on global markets will remain challenging in the second half of the year and will keep us very much on our toes.”
By Dan Mihalascu
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