As the year draws to a close, the automotive business has turned into a contest of who has sold more cars. BMW, Audi and Mercedes have all announced record sales, suggesting it will be a close fight for the title in the premium segment. Things could be even more hotly contested for the overall title, as Volkswagen Group stands a good chance of finally reaching 10 million sales.
Photo: Volkswagen
In the 11 month period to the end of November, the automaker has managed to sell 9.08 million cars, a record figure that represents a 4.6% improvement over last year.
The Group board member in charge of sales, Christian Klingler, stated that VW is on track to achieve the magic 10 million sales target. However, with only a month to go, they need to sell about 900,000 cars. That's slightly more than what they achieved in November, 834,800 units, and the sales momentul has begun to slow down a bit, as last month's increase was only 0.7%.
It all depends on continued interest from the Asia-Pacific region, where Volkswagen Group has registered a spike of 12% so far in 2014. By the end of the year, we could see them in the number 2 spot globally, breathing down the neck of Toyota or General Motors.
Surprisingly, the core brand wasn't responsible for this surge in sales. Volkswagen Passenger Cars registeed 5.59 million sales in the first 11 months of 2014, only 2% better than last year. This despite a new Passat and facelifted version of the Polo and Tiguan launching.
Audi is doing rather well for a premium brand. 1.59 million cars were sold until november, 10.1% better than last year. The premium brand developed well in the Asia-Pacific region, handing over 608,100 (+16.4 percent) models to customers there. Audi delivered 196,800 vehicles in the North America region during the same period, an increase of 15.5 per cent, thanks largely to the arrival of the A3 sedan.
Skoda performed very well. We've already reported on their sales results, which reached 955,300 units in 11 months, a 12.3% increase. Two thirds of this came from Europe, the other part from China.
SEAT largely remains a Europe-only car brand, but still managed to achieve a healty 359,400 sales, up 10.7%. Central and Eastern Europe were very strong for them and you can thank the Leon and Toledo for that!
Finally, there's Porsche, who's SUVs and large sedans helped it achieve 169,200 sales, almost 15% better than in 2013. Trucks and commercial vehicles were down a bit, but not enough to affect the overall results.
“Deliveries on track. Ten million mark within reach.”
The Group board member in charge of sales, Christian Klingler, stated that VW is on track to achieve the magic 10 million sales target. However, with only a month to go, they need to sell about 900,000 cars. That's slightly more than what they achieved in November, 834,800 units, and the sales momentul has begun to slow down a bit, as last month's increase was only 0.7%.
It all depends on continued interest from the Asia-Pacific region, where Volkswagen Group has registered a spike of 12% so far in 2014. By the end of the year, we could see them in the number 2 spot globally, breathing down the neck of Toyota or General Motors.
Which brand performed best?
Surprisingly, the core brand wasn't responsible for this surge in sales. Volkswagen Passenger Cars registeed 5.59 million sales in the first 11 months of 2014, only 2% better than last year. This despite a new Passat and facelifted version of the Polo and Tiguan launching.
Audi is doing rather well for a premium brand. 1.59 million cars were sold until november, 10.1% better than last year. The premium brand developed well in the Asia-Pacific region, handing over 608,100 (+16.4 percent) models to customers there. Audi delivered 196,800 vehicles in the North America region during the same period, an increase of 15.5 per cent, thanks largely to the arrival of the A3 sedan.
Skoda performed very well. We've already reported on their sales results, which reached 955,300 units in 11 months, a 12.3% increase. Two thirds of this came from Europe, the other part from China.
SEAT largely remains a Europe-only car brand, but still managed to achieve a healty 359,400 sales, up 10.7%. Central and Eastern Europe were very strong for them and you can thank the Leon and Toledo for that!
Finally, there's Porsche, who's SUVs and large sedans helped it achieve 169,200 sales, almost 15% better than in 2013. Trucks and commercial vehicles were down a bit, but not enough to affect the overall results.
Google News