With improved sales in Asia-Pacific and Europe, Volkswagen Group recorded 1.6% growth in deliveries to customers during May and sold 871,500 vehicles.

In the first five months of 2016 (January-May), the group delivered a total of 4.2 million units, representing an increase of 0.8 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year. However, there continued to be considerable variations in growth between the several regions the German behemoth operates in.

In May, the Volkswagen Group handed over 369,500 vehicles to customers in Europe. This corresponds to a rise of 4.6 percent compared with last year's figure. As expected, the Western European market developed positively which registered 3.4 percent rise in sales, with the main impetus for growth coming from its domestic market of Germany where sales grew 2.6 percent.

The month also saw strong growth in Central and Eastern European markets, with Russia recording a 7.5 percent rise in deliveries. In Russia, 13,200 vehicles were delivered to customers in May.

However, the America’s saw yet another month of decline in May. Sales declined by 3.7 percent in North America, while they fell sharply by 20.4 percent in South America, thus dragging the global sales down significantly.

In the region of North America, the Group handed over 367,200 vehicles to customers in the year to May, representing a slight fall compared with the previous year (-1.0 percent). While Audi and Porsche were able to record growth in this region, deliveries by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand fell. In the region of South America, 38,100 vehicles were handed over to customers in the month of May (-20.4 percent). This trend is a result of the tense economic situation in Brazil, where 23,500 vehicles were delivered to customers, representing a fall of 31.1 percent compared with the previous year.

Sales in Asia-Pacific grew by 4.1 percent, with the biggest growth market China registering a rise of nearly 5 percent during May. The steady growth in the Asia-Pacific region since the beginning of the year continued. In May, the Volkswagen Group delivered 341,600 vehicles in this region. In the year to May, 1,708,400 vehicles were handed over to customers in the Asia-Pacific region – an increase of 3.3 percent.

Also read: Volkswagen Group’s sales stuck in low growth mode in April