Germany’s Volkswagen Group Sells More Vehicles Worldwide with Electric Cars Gaining Momentum

New vehicles from the Volkswagen Saxony plant are waiting for delivery in a plant parking lot. The plant in Zwickau is regarded as the Group’s lead location for the production of electric vehicles. Credit: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa

 

Germany’s Volkswagen Group sold slightly more vehicles in the third quarter thanks to strong growth in electric cars.

Deliveries to customers rose by 1% year-on-year to just under 2.2 million vehicles, the company announced at its headquarters in the northern city of Wolfsburg on Friday.

Business remained weak in the important Chinese market, where the group is struggling with fierce price competition from local electric car manufacturers. Overall, VW delivered 660,300 vehicles across all its brands in the People’s Republic, a decline of 7.2%.

In Europe and the US, on the other hand, sales of fully electric cars, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), rose sharply. In the previous year, the electric car business in Europe had been burdened by factors including cutbacks or the termination of subsidy programmes.

In the US, advance purchases ahead of the end of incentives are likely to have driven sales this year. Overall, VW’s electric car sales rose by a third to 252,100 vehicles.

The Volkswagen brand remained at the previous year’s level in the third quarter with 1.17 million cars. Deliveries at the important group subsidiary Audi fell by 2.6% to 392,200 cars. As previously reported, sports car manufacturer Porsche AG sold 5.7% fewer cars, with 66,100 units sold.

In the commercial vehicle holding company Traton, including MAN and Scania, Volkswagen recorded a decline of 16.2% to 71,500 trucks and buses.