With more than 1.5 million vehicles delivered to customers in the first quarter of
2018, the Volkswagen brand recorded the best firstquarter delivery results in its
history. Worldwide deliveries in March 2018 totaled 584,700, another new record and
an increase of 4.9 percent compared with the prior-year figure for the same month.
Jürgen Stackmann, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales, said: "The Volkswagen
brand's first-quarter delivery results are very encouraging. Thank you to our
customers and dealers! We achieved growth in many European markets as well as
Germany. The upward trend continued in North and South America. In South America,
the successful launch of the Polo and Virtus had a significant impact on the
encouraging results, in North America the successful launch of the Tiguan Allspace
and the Atlas. In Brazil, we recorded our best quarterly results since 2015 and won
further market share.
Deliveries in the regions and markets in March developed as follows:
- 190,000 vehicles were handed over to customers in Europe in March, an increase
of 3.4 percent compared with the previous year. This trend was mostly driven by the
large markets in Western Europe: Italy (+9.9 percent) and France (+8.6 percent) as
well as Sweden (+11.9 percent) showed particularly positive development, while
Western Europe as a whole was able to secure a 1.9 percent increase on the prior
year.
- Deliveries in the home market of Germany were approximately the same as the
prior year. 54,400 vehicles were handed over to customers, 0.8 percent down on the
previous year.
- 25,300 vehicles were handed over to customers in the Central and Eastern Europe
region, corresponding to a 14.6 percent increase on the previous year. In Russia,
the number of deliveries stood at 8,600 vehicles, an encouraging 24.1 percent
higher than the prior year figure.
- 50,500 vehicles were delivered in North America, corresponding to a 5.2 percent
increase compared with the previous year. The Volkswagen brand's SUV offensive
helped bring about a 17.8 percent increase in the USA, with deliveries amounting to
32,500 vehicles. Deliveries of the new Tiguan in March totaled 9,700 units. The
positive trend in Canada also continued (+31.8 percent).
- 41,100 vehicles were handed over to customers in South America. This represents
an increase of 6.6 percent in the region compared with the previous year. 27,800
vehicles were handed over to customers in Brazil, the largest market in the region,
representing an increase of 8.4 percent on the prior-year figure.
- The brand continued on its growth course in China in March. Volkswagen
delivered 269,500 vehicles in its largest individual market - a further rise of 6.0
percent. There was particularly high demand for the Jetta, Lavida and Santana
models. The highest absolute growth was attributable to the Teramont.
Overview of deliveries by the Volkswagen brand in March:
