Volkswagen Group anticipates record global deliveries in 2018

The Volkswagen Group boosted its worldwide deliveries by 1.8 percent to 9.92 million vehicles in the January to November month of 2018. Despite a tense market environment with stagnating overall markets, Volkswagen claims that a deliveries record for 2018 as a whole is within reach.

In November, the Volkswagen Group delivered a total of 940,900 vehicles throughout the world, corresponding to a fall of 5.4 percent compared with the prior-year month. Thanks to further progress with the WLTP changeover of the model range, deliveries in Europe were affected less severely in November. At 3 percent, the fall compared with the prior-year month was considerably lower than in the two preceding months.

Dr Christian Dahlheim, head of Group Sales: “The rise in worldwide deliveries in the course of the year is a very respectable result. Although the volume target is no longer our top priority, high volumes allow us to achieve economies of scale. In November, there was a reduction in the effect of WLTP in Europe. We are confident that we will be able to close 2018 with a figure slightly above the previous record level of 2017 despite the challenging market environment.“

Deliveries in the regions developed as follows:
The Volkswagen Group brands made further progress with the changeover of their model range to the new WLTP test cycle. In Europe, where the fall in deliveries compared with the prior-year month was lower in November, at 3 percent, than in the two preceding months, 353,000 vehicles were handed over to customers. Both in Western Europe and in the home market of Germany, WLTP effects were less pronounced in November. In Western Europe, 283,100 vehicles were handed over to customers, 3.9 percent fewer than in November 2017. In Germany, 106,800 vehicles were delivered to customers (-4.9 percent). There were positive developments in the region of Central and Eastern Europe in November. Deliveries reached 70,000 vehicles, a rise of 0.9 percent compared with the previous year. This development was especially driven by the Russian market, with 22,900 deliveries (+22.8 percent). In Europe, the Volkswagen Group delivered 4.1 million vehicles from January to November, 1.8 percent more than in the comparable prior-year period.

In North America, the Volkswagen Group delivered 79,300 vehicles to customers in November, representing a fall of 6.2 percent compared with the previous year. While the markets of the USA (-8.1 percent) and Mexico (-5.4 percent) recorded falls compared with the previous year, a rise of 3.1 percent was achieved in Canada.

The region of South America developed positively in November compared with the previous year. 50,400 vehicles were handed over to customers, a rise of 5.4 percent. In the month under review, Brazil remained the main driver of growth in the region with 38,200 vehicles delivered (+22.3 percent). It was possible to compensate for the significant fall of 47.9 percent to 5,800 vehicles in Argentina as a result of the difficult economic environment.

In the Asia-Pacific region, deliveries in November declined by 6.8 percent to 426,800 vehicles. As in previous months, the tariff dispute with the USA had a marked impact on the overall market. The resulting reluctance of Chinese consumers to purchase vehicles led to a fall in deliveries in November to 399,500 vehicles, 7.3 percent fewer than in the prior-year month. During the year to date, the Group has delivered 3.8 million vehicles to customers in China, which represents growth of 2.2 percent over the comparable prior-year period.