Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has said it delivered 354,770 light commercial vehicles (LCVs) to customers worldwide in 2009 – down 20.7% on the previous year. – but claimed to have performed better than competitors in the face of an industry-wide sales slump.
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The firm said economic conditions in its major markets were responsible for its sales drop and said that market shares in European markets were nevertheless expanded during 2009.
“In 2009, we felt the full force of the economic crisis on the commercial vehicles economic cycle. The commercial vehicle sector as a whole has registered a dramatic decline in sales, because commercial vehicles were excluded from government investment programmes,” said Stephan Schaller, CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
“Even Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles couldn’t escape the effects of the altered economic climate, but we have increased the distance between ourselves and the competition,” he said.
The brand’s top-selling product was the Caddy, with a total of 139,826 units delivered worldwide (2008: 151,488; – 7.7%). The passenger vehicle variant of the Caddy, the Caddy Life, was the only model in the brand’s product range to profit from the German government’s environmental incentive.
The mainstay T5 medium van model family (Transporter, Caravelle, Multivan and California) achieved delivery figures of 116,503 vehicles (2008: 177,729; – 34.4%). The T5’s leading market share was further increased in this difficult environment.
The Crafter also suffered decreases in unit sales as a result of the economic crisis, with a total of 33,903 deliveries worldwide (2008: 50,595; – 33.1%). But market position has been improved, says VW.
The Saveiro and the T2, both light commercial vehicles manufactured in Brazil, were able to defend their market position with what VW termed ‘moderate’ delivery decreases. The Saveiro recorded 36,953 deliveries (2008: 39,367; – 6.1%); in the case of the T2, 27,468 units were sold (2008: 27,911; – 1.6%).
Volkswagen claimed that its commercial vehicles division has ‘dealt more effectively than its competitors’ with the negative economic cycle which, particularly in Europe, has led to a sharp decline in new light commercial vehicle registrations.
Whilst the total market for light commercial vehicles witnessed an estimated decline of 32%, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 258,002 vehicles in its principal market area (2008: 331,629; – 22.2%). The brand was therefore able to expand its market share.
In the home market of Germany, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles achieved sales of 123,676 deliveries in 2009 (2008: 124,850; – 0.9%). The total market for light commercial vehicles in Germany registered a decline of around 11%, VW said.
“Despite market developments which have been dramatic at times, we have achieved our goal for 2009: namely, to remain number one in Germany and Europe, and to sustainably increase our market shares,” said Harald Schomburg, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing.
“Together with our importer and dealership organisations, we have performed significantly better than the market. Even in the recession, our customers continue to put their trust in the high quality and innovative technology of our vehicles, which stand for economical operating costs and high residual values.”
VW also said that the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand considers itself to be well prepared for 2010.
“We know that 2010 will be another challenging year. The commercial vehicle business has hit bottom, but the difficult times are not over yet” said Stephan Schaller.
“Our product innovations give us a competitive edge. The new and even more economical T5 has every chance of making a good start in its first full sales year. The new Amarok enables us to tap into new markets in the pick-up segment, which is expanding worldwide.”
