The lockdowns in China and the ongoing semiconductor shortage have impacted shipments of Volkswagen collapse heavily. The group brought 516,500 vehicles to customers worldwide in April, 37.8 percent fewer than a year ago, as Volkswagen announced on Friday. Volkswagen only delivered 1.9 million vehicles in the first quarter, which was almost 22 percent fewer than a year earlier.
In China, the Wolfsburg-based company’s largest market, deliveries fell by half due to production restrictions in the fight against the pandemic. But the carmaker also sold significantly less in other regions than in the same quarter of the previous year. Sales fell the most in Central and Eastern Europe (minus 55.5 percent), by a quarter in North America and by around 30 percent on the home market in Western Europe.
With the exception of the luxury sports car manufacturer Lamborghini, all of the Group’s brands posted high double-digit sales declines. The main brand VW passenger cars went down by 40 percent, at the Czech sister Škoda it was 37.4 percent less than a year ago, and at the Spanish VW subsidiary Seat the minus amounted to 32 percent. at Audi Deliveries fell by 40 percent at the high-yield sports car subsidiary Porsche the minus was 16 percent.
The truck and bus manufacturers MAN and Scania, which belong to the group, were also less active. The Traton holding company for heavy commercial vehicles sold around a fifth fewer vehicles than in the same month last year. Overall, sales of Europe’s largest automotive group shrank by more than a quarter to 2.4 million vehicles in the first four months.