VW group sales collapse in April

As expected, the Volkswagen Group came under severe pressure due to the Corona sales restrictions. Worldwide, the group brands delivered 473,500 vehicles in April, 45.4 percent less than in the same month of the previous year, as announced on Friday in Wolfsburg.

All major brands had significant double-digit percentage decreases because car dealerships were closed for most of the month in most countries.

China was a ray of hope. In the largest single market for VW, where the Covid 19 pandemic first broke out, economic life is normalizing again. In the country, the world’s largest automaker delivered 305,600 vehicles, one percent more than a year earlier. VW China boss Stephan Wllenstein had already said that the group had grown in the largest car market in the world. VW is the market leader in the country.

In China, the lockdown had started earlier due to the spread of the lung disease, and car factories are now almost back to pre-crisis levels – often in three shifts. Many car managers had recently shown optimism that buyers in China would quickly come back to the car dealerships because demand had built up.

On the other hand, things are not looking so good because the restrictions in Europe and North America only really took effect from mid-March and may still have an effect well into the second quarter – even if production picks up again. The three major German car groups Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW have already announced red numbers for the period between April and the end of June.

In April, the core VW car brand saw a drop of 38.3 percent to 300,500 cars. Brand sales chief Jrgen Stackmann had already given the first figures for the month at the beginning of the week and spoke of a “total loss” of demand due to the pandemic consequences.

In Germany, deliveries of the brand with the blue VW logo decreased by 67 percent, in Europe by 83 percent. In Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain there were almost no sales anymore, 99 percent had broken away there. In China, deliveries for the core brand declined by 2.5 percent, albeit with an increasing market share. “This shows that China is almost back to pre-crisis levels,” says Stackmann.

At Audi, the minus worldwide in April was 41.3 percent to 82,400 cars. With 16,300 cars, Porsche delivered a good third fewer sports cars and SUVs. The truck brands MAN and Scania, which VW bundles in the Traton commercial vehicle holding company, were even harder to come by. MAN delivered 62.6 percent less with around 4,400 trucks and buses, while Scania achieved a drop of 66.6 percent with 3,000 vehicles.

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• dpa

• Audi

• Car companies

• Car dealers

• Car market

• BMW

• Daimler AG

• MAN AG

• Porsche

• Scania

• VW

• Volkswagen AG

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