the Volkswagen-Group sold significantly fewer vehicles overall in the past year due to delivery problems with car electronics and corresponding production problems. At the same time, sales of electric models improved significantly.
As the Wolfsburg company announced on Thursday, worldwide deliveries in 2022 fell by 7 percent compared to the previous year to almost 8.26 million units. However, the group caught up significantly in the final quarter: the drop in sales at the end of September was still 13 percent.
In the final quarter, deliveries worldwide rose by 14.3 percent to a good 2.2 million vehicles. December was particularly strong: In the month, there was a global increase in sales of 18.1 percent in the sales statistics, with growth of almost 23 percent in China or nearly 18 percent in western Europe. The lack of chips and the economic consequences of the corona restrictions in the People’s Republic had recently relaxed somewhat.
Electric car sales increase by 26 percent
Considering only vehicles with electric drive, the overall picture looks more positive: Here, the brands of the world’s second-largest car company managed to increase sales by a good 26 percent to over 572,000 cars compared to the previous year.
The Volkswagen Group explained that 6.9 percent of all vehicles delivered were pure electric vehicles – 1.8 percentage points more than in 2021. For 2023 the group is planning an e-share of eleven percent. Volkswagen is sticking to its target of 20 percent for 2025.