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Volkswagen is well on its way to becoming the world's largest automaker after posting a solid month of January sales. VW has set the goal of passing General Motors and Toyota by 2018 to become the world's largest automaker.
VW sold 749,900 vehicles worldwide in January, marking a 14.9 percent increase over the 652,400 cars the company sold during the same month in 2012. Strong sales in China and the United States contributed to VW's January boost.
VW's Chinese sales increase by 44 percent to 298,300 unit in January, but the German automaker notes those sales figures were slightly inflated. The later date set for the Chinese New Year actually helped VW sell a few extra cars in January, but that effect will be reversed in February.
Although VW remains a relatively small player in the United States, the company managed to increase its sales in the region by 16.2 percent in January. In total, VW delivered 42,700 vehicle in the U.S. last month.
Europe wasn't as kind to VW as the automaker's sales there sunk 3 percent to 252,200 units. Even VW's home market of Germany saw a slight 0.2 percent sales decline to 73,900 units in January.
"In particular the sizable increase in China - due to the later date set for the Chinese New Year - helped the Volkswagen Group achieve this January performance. For February, we expect a decline in deliveries in China as a result of this special effect,” said Christian Klingler, Group Board Member for Sales. “In Europe, the prevailing economic uncertainty continues to have a noticeable impact on market development and the Volkswagen Group could not entirely escape this trend in January. On the other hand, we recorded slight growth in the North America region.”
Despite the strong start, Klingler warned the rest of 2013 could be a challenge for VW.
"The fact remains that 2013 will also be a challenging year for the Volkswagen Group,” he said.
AND ON A SIDE-NOTE:
VW sold 749,900 vehicles worldwide in January, marking a 14.9 percent increase over the 652,400 cars the company sold during the same month in 2012. Strong sales in China and the United States contributed to VW's January boost.
VW's Chinese sales increase by 44 percent to 298,300 unit in January, but the German automaker notes those sales figures were slightly inflated. The later date set for the Chinese New Year actually helped VW sell a few extra cars in January, but that effect will be reversed in February.
Although VW remains a relatively small player in the United States, the company managed to increase its sales in the region by 16.2 percent in January. In total, VW delivered 42,700 vehicle in the U.S. last month.
Europe wasn't as kind to VW as the automaker's sales there sunk 3 percent to 252,200 units. Even VW's home market of Germany saw a slight 0.2 percent sales decline to 73,900 units in January.
"In particular the sizable increase in China - due to the later date set for the Chinese New Year - helped the Volkswagen Group achieve this January performance. For February, we expect a decline in deliveries in China as a result of this special effect,” said Christian Klingler, Group Board Member for Sales. “In Europe, the prevailing economic uncertainty continues to have a noticeable impact on market development and the Volkswagen Group could not entirely escape this trend in January. On the other hand, we recorded slight growth in the North America region.”
Despite the strong start, Klingler warned the rest of 2013 could be a challenge for VW.
"The fact remains that 2013 will also be a challenging year for the Volkswagen Group,” he said.
AND ON A SIDE-NOTE:
