Volkswagen Group global deliveries fall 6% in first half on China slump

Volkswagen Group delivered 4.13 million vehicles to customers worldwide in the first half of this year, the company announced Monday. Total deliveries fell 6.3 percent from the same period last year due to weakness in China, though Europe and South America both posted growth.

Global first-half deliveries came to 4,125,700 units, down 6.3 percent from 4,405,400 in the year-earlier period.

China weighed heavily on the overall result, with deliveries there falling 25.9 percent to 973,000 units. Western Europe, by contrast, rose 2.9 percent to 1,748,400 units, Central and Eastern Europe climbed 7.2 percent to 292,600 units, and South America advanced 8.3 percent to 327,200 units. North America slipped 3.1 percent to 447,500 units for the half, though the second quarter alone showed a 7.7 percent rebound.

Battery electric vehicle deliveries totaled 438,500 units in the first half, down 5.8 percent year on year. In Europe, however, BEV deliveries grew 8.4 percent, and the group's Western European market share in the segment expanded from 20 percent to 21 percent. The United States saw BEV deliveries drop 68.8 percent, hurt by the end of government subsidies and higher tariffs, while China fell 47.9 percent.

Order trends were more encouraging. BEV orders in Europe rose more than 50 percent from the end of last year, driven in part by the recently launched urban electric vehicle family. Three models — the Volkswagen ID. Polo, Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval — together secured more than 54,000 orders since going on sale. Overall new orders increased 4 percent, and BEVs accounted for more than 30 percent of all orders placed.

Demand for electrified powertrains also broadened. Deliveries of plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric vehicles reached 246,000 units, up 27 percent from last year. The ID. ERA 9X, the group's first EREV model sold in China, recorded more than 10,000 deliveries.

The top-selling BEVs in the first half were the Skoda Elroq at 59,900 units, the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 combined at 53,700 units, the Skoda Enyaq at 48,300 units, and the Volkswagen ID.3 at 44,400 units.

Marco Schubert, a member of Volkswagen Group's Extended Executive Committee for Sales, said the group recorded about 2 percent growth in global markets outside China, with market share gains continuing particularly in South America and Europe. "In China, however, despite positive early momentum from newly launched locally developed electric vehicles, we could not avoid the impact of an overall market decline of around 20 percent," he said.

Volkswagen Group recently unveiled its "Future Plan 2030," which calls for cutting its model lineup by up to 50 percent and adjusting annual production capacity to around 9 million units. The plan aims to raise the group's global competitiveness by improving efficiency across its products, technology and organization.