The Volkswagen Group sold 947,600 vehicles in September 2016, an increase of 7.1 percent compared with the same month previous year. In January to September, 7.6 million vehicles were sold worldwide, representing a rise of 2.4 percent.

Commenting on the sales performance, Fred Kappler, Head of Group Sales, said: “All passenger car brands recorded a positive delivery performance for the period to September. While the situation in Brazil, in particular, remained tense, there was significant growth in the Chinese market. There was also the positive development in demand from customers in Europe. The increased deliveries make us optimistic we will be able to master the upcoming challenges. Reinforcing our customers’ trust in our products remains our top priority.”

The Volkswagen Group sold 3.18 million vehicles (+3.5 percent) in Europe in the first nine months. 398,700 new vehicles were handed over to customers in September, an increase of 6.3 percent compared with the previous year, of which 343,000 (+6.1 percent) were sold in Western Europe. Momentum was particularly strong in Spain, Italy and France. There was solid development in deliveries on the home market of Germany as well (+3.9 percent). The Group also recorded pleasing growth of 7.9 percent in Central and Eastern Europe in September. The positive delivery performance in Poland and the Czech Republic, in particular, offset the slight decline in Russia (-2.5 percent).

Volkswagen Group sales in the North America region rose to 75,700 units in September, a slight increase of 1.3 percent. While customer demand for Group products was particularly strong in Mexico and Canada during this period, deliveries in the USA declined (-3.2 percent). The South American market remained tense in September. The Group sold 320,000 vehicles in that region during the first nine months, 27.2 percent down on the previous year.

Further, 3.11 million vehicles (+8.1 percent) were sold in the Asia-Pacific region in the first nine months, of which 2.85 million (+10.7 percent) were handed over to customers in China. Deliveries in the Asia-Pacific region in September increased by 16.4 percent compared with the previous year to 411,700 units, of which 382,300 vehicles were handed over to customers in the Chinese market, representing an increase of 20.1 percent.

Also read: Volkswagen Group’s global sales grow 6.3 percent in August