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      Volkswagen Group rejoices at speedy pace in first six months of 2012

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      CarTrade Editorial Team

      The well-established German company, Volkswagen Group reported a surge in its cumulative sales in the first half of this year. Throughout the world, the company sold 4.45 million units in the first half of 2012, marking an advantage of 8.9 per cent over 4.09 million vehicles sold in same period last year (both the figures exclusive of sales by MAN and Scania). In June 2012, the sales of the car maker paced up swiftly as the deliveries moved to 798,500, reporting a growth of 11 per cent over the figures in year-ago period which stood at 719,400 units (excluding MAN and Scania).

      Christian Klingler, Group Board Member for Sales quoted, “Deliveries by the Volkswagen Group developed very well in the first half of the year. But that is by no means cause for euphoria. The economic situation, particularly in Western Europe, remains tense and difficult. We remain on track and are entering the second half year, which will be altogether more challenging, with confidence.”

      In the European market, the company sold 1.93 million vehicles during the period, marking a growth of greater than 1.8 per cent as the figures in the corresponding period last year stood at 1.9 million units. Volkswagen Group delivered 1.01 million vehicles to customers in Western Europe (excluding Germany), representing a dip of 5.7 per cent as the year-ago figurers were dominant at 1.07 million units. Rejoicing with a growth of 27.3 per cent, the car maker sold 322,900 units in Central and Eastern Europe compared against 253,700 units, which were recorded during the same tenure last year.

      In the domestic market, the auto giant gave the possession of 606,100 new cars to its customers, showing a growth of 4.4 percent against 580,600 units sold last year. Sales in American continent were also favourable on the company’s front as in the first six months of this year, the sales of VW stood at 389,800 units, reporting a growth of 22.1 per cent against 319,100 units sold in the corresponding period last year. Among the mentioned figures, 275,200 units were accounted for United States, wherein the company reported a growth of 30.4 per cent against previous figures of 211,000 units. In the South America region, Volkswagen sold over 469,500 units with a growth of 3.1 per cent as compared to 455,200 units delivered in year-ago period.

      The deliveries made during the first half of 2012 by Volkswagen Group in Asia-Pacific region were also very impressive as the company marked a growth of 17.6 per cent with 1.48 million units against 1.26 million vehicles. Among the mentioned figures, 1.30 million units were accounted to China, an advantage of 17.5 per cent from 1.11 million vehicles delivered in the region last year. Considering the Indian market, Volkswagen Group marked an increment of 10.4 per cent with a sale of 60,900 units against 55,100 units sold in year-ago period.

      In the passenger car segment worldwide, the company sold 2.79 million vehicles with a growth rate of 10.2 per cent over 2.53 million units sold during the same tenure last year. To be specific, in United States the sales figures of car maker stood at 208,700 units, marking a remarkable growth of 35.4 per cent over 154,100 units sold in the same period last year. In Central and Eastern Europe region, Volkswagen Group delivered 134,000 passenger vehicles with an exciting increase of 45.2 per cent against 92,300 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

      The completely owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, Audi sold 733,200 units in the global arena during the first six months of 2012, representing a growth of 12.3 per cent when compared with 652,900 vehicles in the first half year of 2011. Besides, the German luxury marque recorded decent double-digit growth in the auto markets of China and USA, wherein the company sold 193,900 units and 65,200 units with a growth rate of 37.8 per cent and 16.5 per cent, respectively. The market share of the auto giant also expanded in Europe as the company sold 393,300 units during the period with a 2.8 per cent surge over 382,800 units sold during the same tenure of 2011.

      Another 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Volkswagen, ŠKODA sold 493,000 units worldwide during the period from January to June with an increase of 8.4 per cent against 454,700 units of the corresponding period last year. The growth of Skoda was mainly seen in the Central and Eastern Europe region, wherein it managed to record a surge of 16.2 per cent with 131,800 units against 113,500 units delivered in the corresponding period last year. Its sales in Asia-Pacific region stood at 144,900 vehicles, which were higher than 12.4 per cent when put up against 128,900 units, which were recorded in year-ago period.

      SEAT, the sports car manufacturing brand owned by Volkswagen Group, witnessed a fall of 12.4 per cent in its worldwide sales figures of 163,300 units against 186,400, which were recorded during the same tenure last year. In the entire European market, the car maker registered sales of over 139,100 units with a dip of 17.2 per cent, when evaluated against 167,900 vehicles sold in the corresponding period last year. Sales in European market however remained unfavourable for the auto maker though it was expecting great results from the same.

      However, the pace boosted in Germany where it somehow managed to sell 28,400 units with a growth of 8 per cent against the figures of first six months of 2011 which stood at 26,300 units. In UK, SEAT reported the sales of 19,800 units with a growth rate of 6.8 per cent against 18,500 units delivered in the same period last year. In Mexico, SEAT performed fairly well with a growth rate of 20.5 per cent as the car maker delivered 10,200 units against 8,500 vehicles sold during the same tenure last year.

      On the other hand, the Commercial Vehicles (CV) segment of Volkswagen expanded by mere 3.7 per cent with 270,000 units sold between the first six months of the year against the 260,300 vehicles delivered in the same period of 2011. In the domestic market, the company delivered 63,000 vehicles with a growth rate of 5.5 per cent against 59,700 units sold in the corresponding period last year. The European market responded well to the CVs of Volkswagen as the auto maker sold 165,900 units with a growth of 4.7 per cent over the year-ago volumes sold in the region which stood at 158,400.

      Going by these statistics, it seems that the first half of 2012 was quite lucrative for the Volkswagen Group. Except a few, most of its subsidiaries performed well worldwide and therefore it can be said that expansion is on a full swing. Analysts anticipate that the company will also perform well in the second half of 2012.

      Volkswagen