VW feels the effects of Brazil and China

Brazil, China and Germany appear to have caused the Volkswagen brand to take a hit in January 2017.

The group handed over 495,900 vehicles to customers throughout the world, corresponding to a fall of 4.9 per cent compared with the previous year. J

Jürgen Stackmann, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales, commented: "The Volkswagen brand started 2017 successfully. Worldwide deliveries may be slightly below the value for the previous year, but this is solely due to special effects in the major market of China. All the other reported gratifying increases compared with the previous year."

Overview of deliveries by the Volkswagen brand:

Deliveries to customers by markets	January 2016	January 2017	Change (%)
Europe	121,100	126,700	+4.7
Western Europe	106,200	109,100	+2.7
Germany	40,600	38,600	-5.1
Central and Eastern Europe	14,900	17,600	+18.7
Russia	4,500	4,600	+2.8
North America	38,600	41,400	+7.4
USA	20,100	23,500	+17.1
South America	29,000	32,500	+12.0
Brazil	19,500	16,700	-14.6
Asia-Pacific	320,400	283,100	-11.6
China	306,900	270,800	-11.8
Worldwide	521,400	495,900	-4.9

The main trends in January were:

§  In Europe, deliveries rose by 4.7 per cent compared with the previous year, to 126,700 vehicles. This positive development was buoyed especially by the markets of Italy (+29.6 per cent) and Spain (+12.8 per cent. This good performance was based on strong demand for the new Tiguan.

§  In the home market of Germany, 38,600 vehicles were handed over to customers, corresponding to a slight fall of 5.1 per cent. As in previous months, the main reason for this fall was the extension of the leasing term for employees.

§  In the USA, deliveries increased significantly by 17.1 percent to 23,500 vehicles. New sales records were reported in January for the Tiguan, Golf estate (SportWagon) and e-Golf.

§  South America reported growth of 12.0 per cent to 32,500 vehicles. This is a result of special effects in Argentina. In January 2016, deliveries had been especially low as a result of difficult economic and political conditions. As a result, the figure for January 2017 was considerably higher.

§  In China, Volkswagen's largest sales market, special effects resulted in a fall in sales of 11.8 per cent to 270,800 vehicles at the beginning of the year. This was due to the significant reduction in tax concessions for vehicles of smaller displacement classes as of the end of 2016. In addition, January had one less working day than in 2016 as a result of the Chinese New Year festivities.

§  In India, the new Ameo resulted in an increase of 17.7 per cent in deliveries. This model was developed especially for the Indian market and was introduced successfully in 2016.