Volkswagen group delivered 2.89m vehicles to customers in the first four months of this year, up 8.6% year on year, and outperforming a global market that rose by 6%.
The group also reported a rise in deliveries in April, up 6% to 732,000. Sales chief Christian Klingler said: “The group’s worldwide deliveries continue to develop in the right direction. We are benefiting from our convincing model range and are looking to keep up the momentum over the coming months as well.
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“We expect the markets in western Europe to deteriorate further. Our current projection has been adjusted downward and we are therefore keeping an even closer eye on market developments.”
Group brands delivered 1.25m vehicles across Europe from January to April, of which 661,400 were in the west, excluding Germany.
Domestic sales grew 5.6% to 387,500 and group deliveries also rose in Asia-Pacific to 975,700, up 16.5%, with 858,900 of those sold in China.
Sales in North America were up 23% to April to 247,900 and increased half a percent to 296,900 in South America.
Audi delivered 471,300 vehicles worldwide from January to April, an increase of 11.7%, enjoying continued strong growth in China, where 124,300 vehicles were delivered, up 41%. Sales in the US rose almost 16% to 41,000.
Czech affiliate Škoda also continued on its growth trajectory in the first four months delivering 324,100 vehicles, up 9.8%, and developing particularly well in the central and eastern Europe region, where sales grew 18% to 84,700.
Sales continued to decline, however, at Seat which delivered 105,100 vehicles, down 13.3%. Europe remained particularly difficult for the Spanish brand with sales declining 18% to 89,400. Bright spots were Germany, up almost 7% to 18,200, and the UK, up 4.3% to 13,600.
