Volkswagen brand passenger car sales reached 1.43m in the first quarter, up 5.2% year on year, although there was a slight decline in March.
Sales and marketing chief Christian Klinger said: “There were mixed developments in markets worldwide. While there was further growth in Asia and North America in particular, deliveries declined in other regions such as western Europe and South America.
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“As expected, markets are becoming more difficult, and in some cases decidedly more challenging.”
Sales in western Europe totalled 396,300, down 10.3%, of which 208,800 were sold in western Europe, excluding Germany, where volume dropped from 149,000 to 126,500.
Central and eastern Europe saw growth of 4.1% to 61,000.
Asia-Pacific sales rose 20.9% though India sales fell to 16,600 from 20,400. North America volume was up 7.3% to 145,700 of which 98,200 were in the US. South America sales dropped 7.3% to 176,600.
