The Volkswagen Group delivered 5.29 million vehicles to customers worldwide during the first ten months of this year (+2.8 percent)*. The Group therefore fared noticeably better than the overall market (-2.9 percent). Over the same period, the Group's share of the passenger car market rose by 0.6 percentage points to 10.2 percent. In the month of October, the Group delivered 502,600 vehicles worldwide (-5.1 percent), also a better development than the overall market (-16 percent).
"There was a further very significant deterioration in the situation for the automotive industry all over the world in October. Our Group continued to gain market share in this difficult environment, even though deliveries in October were down on the same month last year. Our target of selling more vehicles in 2008 than in 2007 remains valid," Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President Group Sales and Marketing, said.
The Group continued its expansion on growth markets, although the momentum in these markets has also decelerated. The Group once again reported pleasing growth in Brazil from January to October, with deliveries totaling 550,700 vehicles (+16.7 percent). In China, too, the Group recorded a noticeable rise in deliveries from January to October, with 853,800 vehicles representing a marked increase of 12.6 percent. The Group's percentage growth in Russia, where deliveries rose by 64.4 percent to 107,900 vehicles, was even higher. In India, the Group delivered 16,700 vehicles (+66.0 percent) from January to October, again representing strong growth.
Against the backdrop of a continuing deterioration in the overall market, the Group delivered 3.0 million vehicles (-0.4 percent) in Europe during the first ten months of this year, of which 881,500 (+1.8 percent) were delivered in Germany and 1.65 million (-5.6 percent) in Western Europe (excluding Germany).
Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the Group's highest-volume brand, delivered 3.1 million vehicles to customers worldwide (+2.1 percent) between January and October 2008, of which 439,600 (+3.2 percent) were delivered in Germany.
* Excluding deliveries by the Scania brand.