The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand boosted first quarter sales 10.5%, delivering over 1.36m vehicles for the first time in a Q1. The brand also posted a new delivery record of 536,600 (+14.6%) units for March.
“While the situation on the markets in Europe remains difficult, we reported significant growth in North America and Asia,” sales and marketing chief Christian Klingler said.
Notwithstanding problems in the south, overall European first quarter sales rose 5.1% to 441,800 units. While deliveries in western Europe (excluding Germany) dropped 3.7% to 232,600 (241,600; -3.7%), deliveries in central and eastern Europe rose by a substantial 61.8% to 60,200. Russian volume was up 113.1% to 35,800 and German sales rose 5.3% to 149,000.
In Asia/Pacific, the brand posted a 13.7% rise to 540,600 with China alone taking 483,400 (+12.5%).
North America sales were up 27.6% to 135,700 with the US up 40.8% to 67,000. South deliveries rose 3.9% to 190,400 units.
