Volkswagen Group delivers 5.73 million vehicles from January to November

WOLFSBURG : Dec. 12, 2008 - The Volkswagen Group delivered 5.73 million vehicles (+1,0 percent) worldwide in the first eleven months of this year.* The Group therefore ranks among the few automakers this year who have matched or even slightly exceeded last year’s delivery figures. Europe’s largest automaker cannot however entirely escape the impact of the continuing dramatic distortions on the world market. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen Group still delivered 447,000 vehicles worldwide (-16.5 percent) in the month of November, representing a relatively positive performance compared with the overall market (-24.5 percent).


“The Volkswagen Group held its own well in the first three quarters of this year as overall market demand continued to weaken. The slump on the world market in the fourth quarter is really putting us to the test, but we have still grown market share even though vehicles sales are falling,” Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President Group Sales and Marketing, commented.

There has also been a sharp decline in momentum on what have to date been growth markets. Nevertheless, development in Volkswagen Group deliveries during the first eleven months of the year was positive. In Brazil, the Group delivered 591,800 vehicles from January to November, an increase of 11.9 percent. In China, too, the Group reported good growth of 10.1 percent during this period, with deliveries totaling 931,100 units. There was significant growth in Russia, where deliveries rose 61.6 percent to 118,300 units and India, where deliveries increased by 59.7 percent to 17,700 vehicles.

On an overall European market which remained weak, the Group delivered 3.2 million vehicles (-1.7 percent) in the first eleven months of the year, of which 967,500 units (+0.4 percent) were delivered in Germany and 1.8 million units (-6.6 percent) in Western Europe (excluding Germany).

Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the Group’s highest-volume brand, delivered 3.37 million vehicles (+0.2 percent) to customers worldwide from January to November 2008, of which 482,000 vehicles (+1.5 percent) were delivered in Germany.
* excluding Scania deliveries.

[Source : VOLKSWAGEN]