Volkswagen Group deliveries rise driven by China business

BERLIN -- Global deliveries by the Volkswagen Group rose by 13.3 percent year-on-year to 698,200 units in January, Germany's biggest car manufacturer said on Friday.

The development was driven by a 43.3-percent sales surge in the company's largest single market China, where a total of 290,900 vehicles were delivered, according to Volkswagen. Deliveries of battery-electric vehicles there more than tripled to 17,700 units.

"The strong growth of the Chinese market in January 2024 compared to the previous year can be explained by a very low base in January 2023, which was still heavily influenced by COVID restrictions," a company spokesperson told Xinhua on Friday.

Volkswagen Group China is proving its strength in this highly competitive market environment, the spokesperson said.

Deliveries in the Middle East and Africa region also saw double-digit growth of 13.7 percent. By contrast, the rest of the Asia-Pacific region saw a slump of 16.3 percent, while North America also experienced a slight decline to 66,300 units.

The Volkswagen core brand recorded the strongest increase of 18 percent to 382,900 units. Other brands including Audi also saw rises, with only the luxury brand Bentley plummeting by 36.9 percent.