Volkswagen Group delivers 4.24 million vehicles worldwide from January to August 2008

4.1 percent rise significantly better than trend for global market

WOLFSBURG : September 24, 2008 - The Volkswagen Group delivered 4.24 million vehicles worldwide in the first eight months of this year. This represents a 4.1 percent increase compared with the same period in 2007.


Overall, Group deliveries therefore developed better than the trend on the global market (-0.4 percent)*. Even in August, a month of low deliveries, the Group delivered 448,000 vehicles worldwide (-3.0 percent), performing noticeably better than the sharply declining overall market (-9.1 percent).

"The increasingly difficult economic conditions are also presenting our Group with a challenge. We are, however, very well placed to continue our success. We have a unique brand and product portfolio, an outstanding position in the growth regions and, of course, our fuel and powertrain strategy which paves the way towards ecologically and socially compatible mobility," Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President Group Sales and Marketing, commented.

The Group continued to develop well in the emerging markets in particular. In China, the Group delivered 686,000 vehicles during the first eight months of this year, an increase of 15.6 percent compared with the same period last year. In Brazil, too, 21.0 percent growth in deliveries to 438,000 vehicles was once again very high. The Group also achieved a similar rise in Central and Eastern Europe, where 377,400 vehicles were delivered to customers (+19.2 percent). Once again, the Group reported significantly higher percentage rises for deliveries in Russia (+67.2 percent to 83,300 vehicles), Ukraine (+51.9 percent to 35,500 vehicles) and India (+69.7 percent to 13,700 vehicles).

In Europe, the Group delivered 2.4 million vehicles to customers (+0.2 percent) from January to August 2008, of which 699,800 (+2.3 percent) were delivered in Germany. In Western Europe (excluding Germany), where the overall market remained perceptibly weaker, the Group delivered 1.32 million vehicles (-5.1 percent).

Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the Group’s highest-volume brand, delivered 2.49 million vehicles worldwide (+3.6 percent) during the first eight months of the year, of which 350,500 (+4.9 percent) were delivered in Germany alone.

* Scania is only included in quarterly reports.

[Source : Volkswagen]