The Volkswagen Group posted saw global sales rise 3,2% in 2005 to a record 5,24-million vehicles, the automaker said on Sunday.
”This development is due to our successful model initiative,” group chairperson Bernd Pischetsrieder said in a statement from the Detroit Auto Show. ”Five of our brands have achieved their best-ever delivery results.”
Volkswagen saw strong growth in Western Europe, topping the one million mark for the first time in Germany and posting a 6,7% increase in overall sales to 2,94-million vehicles in the region.
Sales dropped 7,6% in the United States to 312 000 vehicles.
”We have to turn around in 2006,” Volkswagen brand chairperson Wolfgang Bernhard told Agence France Presse on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.
”We have to raise our volume and the loss in the US will have to be substantially reduced.”
Bernhard said he expects the overall market in the US to be flat in 2006 but he expects a solid shift towards smaller vehicles as consumers seek fuel-economy.
He said VW is well placed in this segment, noting that Americans seem to be more willing to buy diesel. The company saw a tripling of interest in diesel vehicles to 20% of vehicles sold among models which offered the option.
Sales also fell 11,7% in China to 572 000 vehicles while sales in the South America/South Africa division rose 11,7% to 596 000 vehicles in 2005. – Sapa-AFP