Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen was already looking to have a good year, but better-than-expected December results pushed the giant automaker solidly into record territory and also saved a few brands that were struggling, especially Audi.
VW Group announced on Wednesday that its 11 brands together sold 10.7 million cars all over the world in 2017. We don't yet know if that was enough to stave off Nissan, but 4.3% growth is enough to secure some healthy bonuses and finance more model development.
It's safe to say that the figures that include brands like Skoda, Audi or Porsche were highly anticipated by the industry. It's only been a couple of years since the emissions scandal rocked VW to the core and also sent aftershocks to the whole industry. Still, they have set aside those 25 billion euros for settlements and fines, so the company needs money.
"We are grateful to our customers for the trust these figures reflect," VW chief executive Matthias Mueller said in a statement. "We will continue to do everything we can to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers all over the world."
The most significant regional growth was in South America - 23.7%. But the base is too low to make a difference at 522,000 units. Larger markets witnessed more moderate increases, like China, where demand grew 5.1% to 4.2 million.
Germany, VW's home country, actually slid -0.4% last year, despite decent 5% growth in December. Central and Eastern Europe including Russia saw sales climb by 13.2% to 745,000 vehicles. But Western Europe was pretty sluggish.
Frankly, Audi's performance is a shocker. Remember all those amazing new models that came out in 2017? Well, total sales only rose 0.6% to 1.87 million cars, and that's only because of the December surge.
The VW passenger car brand sold a record 6.23 million cars, up 4.2% from 2016. Skoda also did very well. But it's important to note that the competitors are breathing down their backs, especially Renault-Nissan, which said on Wednesday it sold 10.6 million vehicles last year. Toyota wasn't far behind with 10.35 million.
In fact, Nissan argues that VW is padding its numbers with sales of heavy trucks from MAN and Scania. And they're right - those aren't cars!
It's safe to say that the figures that include brands like Skoda, Audi or Porsche were highly anticipated by the industry. It's only been a couple of years since the emissions scandal rocked VW to the core and also sent aftershocks to the whole industry. Still, they have set aside those 25 billion euros for settlements and fines, so the company needs money.
"We are grateful to our customers for the trust these figures reflect," VW chief executive Matthias Mueller said in a statement. "We will continue to do everything we can to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers all over the world."
The most significant regional growth was in South America - 23.7%. But the base is too low to make a difference at 522,000 units. Larger markets witnessed more moderate increases, like China, where demand grew 5.1% to 4.2 million.
Germany, VW's home country, actually slid -0.4% last year, despite decent 5% growth in December. Central and Eastern Europe including Russia saw sales climb by 13.2% to 745,000 vehicles. But Western Europe was pretty sluggish.
Frankly, Audi's performance is a shocker. Remember all those amazing new models that came out in 2017? Well, total sales only rose 0.6% to 1.87 million cars, and that's only because of the December surge.
The VW passenger car brand sold a record 6.23 million cars, up 4.2% from 2016. Skoda also did very well. But it's important to note that the competitors are breathing down their backs, especially Renault-Nissan, which said on Wednesday it sold 10.6 million vehicles last year. Toyota wasn't far behind with 10.35 million.
In fact, Nissan argues that VW is padding its numbers with sales of heavy trucks from MAN and Scania. And they're right - those aren't cars!
Google News