The Volkswagen group sold more than 7m vehicles for first time in a year in 2010, with growth in December alone running at almost 23%.
The company said in a statement that it sold 7.14m vehicles last year. It added that the global passenger car market had grown at only 11.3%, meaning VW had also won further market share.
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In December VW delivered 545,400 units to customers, representing an increase of 22.8%.
“2010 once again showed we are forging ahead with our international growth and implementing our Strategy 2018,” sales head Christian Klingler said. “In 2011, our focus on innovative products and top technologies will remain the foundation of our success.”
In a statement, VW said that it had enjoyed a pleasing delivery situation in all of its Asian markets in 2010. Deliveries in China grew 37.4% to 1.92m units, setting a new record. There was a very substantial increase in deliveries in India, where the group handed over 53,300 vehicles to customers, a rise of 181%. The group also reported a marked increase throughout the Asia/Pacific region, with deliveries running at 2.14m units, up 38.5%.
The picture was similar in other regions of the world. The group delivered 888,000 vehicles in South America, an increase of 8.9%. In the US, group brands delivered 360,300 units during the year, growth of 20.9%.
In western Europe (excluding Germany), the group delivered 1.85m vehicles, up 11.6%, therefore performing noticeably better than the overall market which only grew 1.9%. Central and eastern Europe grew 10.8%.
On its home market of Germany, the group delivered 1.04m vehicles to customers, a fall of 16.8%, in a year characterised by the effects of the scrapping premium. Since the overall market declined significantly during the last year, contracting by 23.4%, the group was able to expand its market share further.
Volkswagen passenger cars also reported a new record for last year, with deliveries growing 13.9% to 4.5m units. In China, its largest single market, deliveries rose by 35.5% to 1.51m units. Audi deliveries were up 15% to 1.09m units.
