Volkswagen Group sales up 3.7 percent in January 2016

Just like other German manufacturers, the Volkswagen Group too started the year 2016 on a positive note with sales of 847,800 units in January 3.7 percent more compared to the same month last year.

Commenting on the January figures in Wolfsburg Matthias Müller, CEO of Volkswagen AG said, “The brands recorded a rise in deliveries in January.” Müller continued: “Developments on world markets at the beginning of the year are mixed. The situation in Brazil and Russia remains tense, China is regaining momentum and the trend in Europe is generally stable.”

Developments on the overall Chinese market at the start of the year were particularly positive, with market growth running at around 12 percent. The Group and its brands put up an even stronger performance (up 13.9 percent), selling more than 400,000 units and making January a record month. The growth was a decisive factor in developments in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole (up 12 percent).

The situation in the Americas was more challenging as the company sold 61,100 vehicles in the North America region, of which 36,400 units were sold in the United States (down 7 percent), where the sales stop for several models with diesel engines had an impact. Deliveries in the South America region, where the general economic climate remains tense, declined appreciably (down 32.2 percent).

In Europe, January was a more pleasing month (up 1.8 percent). The Group with its 12 brands recorded a slight increase (up 2.9 percent) in Western Europe. However, sales remained flat in the home market of Germany (up 0.4 percent). In contrast, developments in Central and Eastern Europe (down 4.2 percent) continued to feel the effects of the tense situation in Russia (down 29.5 percent). Increases in several other markets in the region could not offset the downward trend in January.