Volkswagen (VW), the German automotive marque, announced its global sales figures and the company reported a growth of 11.5 per cent between January and August this year with unified sales of 3.72 million vehicles. The company registered sales of 466,300 vehicles in August as against the 389,600 vehicles sold in the same period last year.
The German company witnessed a surge of 2 per cent in its vehicle sales in the European auto market at 1.15 million units. Interestingly, VW sales in Central and European markets grew by 36.6 percent while its sales Russian market outpaced it’s the sales of its European counterparts and recorded a growth of 62.8 per cent. Further, the German auto maker recorded a surge in sales by 1.6 per cent at 401,200 units on its home turf, Germany.
Christian Klingler, Board Member, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group, said, “Developments at Volkswagen Passenger Cars remain very stable and the brand enjoyed growth in August, some of it strong, particularly outside Europe. However, the ongoing difficult market environment in Western Europe continues to demand our undivided attention.”
Coming to the Asia-Pacific region, the German auto maker registered an increase in sales by 15.8 per cent and China lead the Asian pack by recording sales of 1.32 million Volkswagen vehicles. The American markets followed the trend with the auto markets of North America, USA and South America recording a surge in vehicle sales by 26 per cent, 37.6 per cent and 10.8 per cent, respectively.
Evidently, the German automotive giant failed to entice the Indian car enthusiasts and the company recorded its last peak sales in April 2012. The VW products in the Indian market were unable to attract decent sales due to the relatively new outlook of the brand as perceived by the Indian buyers, against the likes of well established car makers like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.
Volkswagen India recorded a decline in car sales by 16. 3 per cent during the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal, to which the company responded by reducing its production by 30 per cent. VW witnessed sales of 5,371 vehicles in June 2012 as against the sales of 5,397 vehicles in the same period last year on the Indian turf.
Reportedly, the company reported sales of 3,498 Polo hatchbacks and 1,546 Vento sedans in July 2012. VW recorded a 3.4 per cent drop in car sales between the months of January and June this year, as just 36,386 cars were sold against the sales of 37,678 vehicles in first and second quarters of 2011.
Evidently, the current sales registered by the German automotive giant are not in compliance with the company's target of 10 per cent of the overall share of the Indian car market by 2018. Volkswagen India's failure in luring Indian buyers to its showrooms may be credited to the fact that the company has a limited offering of cars in the Indian market. The company has either the entry-level options like Polo hatchback and Vento sedan or the premium models like Passat, Jetta saloons and Touareg Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). In order to capture the imagination of Indian car enthusiasts Volkswagen will have to add more options to its current fleet.
