Volkswagen Group sets historic record in first quarter of 2008
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VW group delivers 1.572 million vehicles to customers worldwide under increasingly difficult market conditions
- Worldwide deliveries rose by 7.0 percent
- 32.4 percent rise in China almost double growth in overall Chinese market
- Record 32.3 percent market share in Germany
- Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, Škoda and
Lamborghini with all-time highs
Wolfsburg, April 14, 2008 – The first three months of this year represent the most
successful first quarter in the history of the Volkswagen Group: worldwide, the Group
delivered 1.572 million vehicles under increasingly difficult market conditions, a
7.0 percent increase on the prior-year period. “We are well on track for a new delivery
record for the full year thanks to great cars, a broader model range, attractive prices
and innovations for all customers,” Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President, Group
Sales and Marketing, commented.
The high-volume markets of China and Brazil played an important role in the Group’s first-
quarter sales performance: in China, 268,204 vehicles were sold in the first three months on
this, the Group’s largest market ahead of Germany, representing an increase of 32.4 percent
on the prior-year period. First-quarter growth in Group deliveries was therefore almost double
growth in the overall Chinese market (+16.9 percent). Thanks to the start of Octavia
production in China, Škoda contributed to the Group’s success in this market, delivering
16,212 vehicles. In Brazil, the Group’s third largest market, sales rose to 147,752 vehicles
(+ 23.3 percent).
The Group also expanded substantially on the growth markets of Russia and India, with
vehicle deliveries rising by more than 45 percent in both cases. In Russia, the Group sold
22,643 vehicles (+ 57.6 percent), in India 4,980 (+46.1 percent). In the shrinking US
automobile market, the Group sold 72,224 vehicles (-0.7 percent), on a par with the same
period in 2007, and grew its market share.
In Germany, Group first-quarter deliveries rose by 2.6 percent to 240,654 vehicles, bringing
the Group’s share of the passenger car market to a record 32.3 percent. In Western Europe,
771,716 vehicles were delivered, and the market share of 18.6 percent corresponded to the
high level of the comparable prior-year period.
Despite fewer working days in March, the Group delivered 619,893 vehicles worldwide
(+2.0 percent) in that month alone.
Five of the Group’s eight brands contributed significantly to the Group’s performance in the
first quarter of 2008, reporting new delivery records of their own. The Volkswagen Passenger
Cars brand delivered 920,209 vehicles (+8.3 percent), Audi delivered 251,268 vehicles
(+1.3 percent), Skoda sold 173,474 vehicles (+15.7 percent), the Italian super sports car
brand Lamborghini sold 639 vehicles (+21.5 percent) and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
grew deliveries by 123,379 units (+12.0 percent). Affected by the generally weak market in
Spain and Italy, Seat delivered 100,619 vehicles worldwide (-7.5 percent) in the first three
months, Bentley sold 2,292 vehicles (-17.8 percent) and Bugatti delivered 15 vehicles in the
first quarter of 2008, four fewer than the same period in 2007.
Source: VW
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