VW Group surpasses 2011 sales total in January–November period

The Volkswagen (VW) Group has exceeded its full-year 2011 light-vehicle sales in the first 11 months of 2012, according to a company press release. The company sold 8.29 million light-vehicles in the January to November period, which represented an accelerated 10.4% y/y increase on the group's sales during the equivalent period last year. The company's sales in November posted an 11.7% y/y rise, actually out-accelerating the rate of increase in the year-to-date (YTD), with an overall figure for the period of 794,500 units. Christian Klinger, the company's board member for sales and marketing, acknowledged the immense achievement in setting this record, but he also warned about a more difficult year ahead in 2013. "We have already delivered more vehicles after eleven months than during the whole of last year. That is an outstanding achievement, particularly in view of the continuing difficult situation on some European markets. Despite this year's new delivery record we are already preparing for a very challenging year in 2013," said Klinger.

In terms of the company's global market regions, Europe's largest carmaker managed to significantly outperform the downturn in the region's market. According to the latest ACEA data on Western Europe, the VW's sales have dipped by 1.2% y/y to 2.79 million units in an overall market that has fallen by 7.6% y/y during the equivalent period (see Europe: 14 December 2012: EU passenger car demand contracts 10.3% y/y during November). VW's own definition of the European market, including Eastern Europe, witnessed sales volume growth of 0.7% y/y, to 3.40 million units. In VW's own reckoning of its performance in Western Europe (which excluded Germany) it recorded a 6.0% y/y decline to 1.82 million units. In its home market of Germany, the company managed to grow deliveries by 3.4% y/y to 1.10 million units. In Central and Eastern Europe sales rose 19.4% y/y to 590,800 units, of which 290,100 (203,100; +42.9 percent) were delivered in Russia, the region's largest single market. In North America the VW Group posted a sales increase of 26.1% y/y to 757,300 units, of which 534,000 units were delivered in the US, which in itself was a rise of 33.9% y/y. The company also enjoyed a very positive development in sales terms in South America, with volumes rising 8.0% to 923,800 units. The majority of these sales were generated, as ever, in Brazil, with sales rising by 9.8% y/y to 709,000 units. In China, VW retained its dominant position, with sales rising at an impressive rate of 20.2% y/y, to 2.53 million units.

On a brand-by-brand basis, sales of the Volkswagen passenger car brand rose by 11.5% year-on-year (y/y) in November, to 5.22 million units. This meant that the firm's YTD growth level was almost exactly matched by November's result for the month, which saw volumes rise by 11.5% y/y to 5.22 million units for the first 11 months of the year The Audi brand has exceeded its 2011 sales total in the YTD after posting a new sales record of 1,344,750 units during the period, in comparison to the figure of 1,302,659 units recorded for 2012. The sales figure for the first 11 months of the year was a 12.7% year-on-year (y/y) rise. In November, the Audi brand recorded a 10.9% y/y rise to 123,600 units. The Skoda brand delivered a total of 873,000, which was a rise of 6.9% y/y, although it just failed to exceed the 2011 sales total it recorded in the first 11 months of 2012. The brand performed particularly well in its traditional heartland the Central and Eastern Europe region, where customers took possession of 237,500 (210,000; +13.1 percent) new vehicles. As has been the case in recent years, SEAT remained the lame duck in the VW Group portfolio, with sales falling 8.2% y/y to 293,800 units. The company has recently launched the third generation Leon model, upon which much depends in terms of the brand's future within the group. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles grew deliveries 4.6%, to 501,000 units, in the period to November. The unit performed robustly in Germany, with a 0.8% y/y rise to 113,200 units. Deliveries also developed very well in Central and Eastern Europe, where customers took possession of 37,700 units, a rise of 16.7% y/y. Porsche exceeded the record sales volumes it set in 2011 in the first 11 months of the year by posting sales of 128,978 units. This compared to the figure of 118,868 units that it posted for the full year in 2011. In November Porsche sold a total of 12,928 vehicles achieving a year-on-year (y/y) increase of 38.7%. However, it is only the company's sales from the end of July that have been incorporated into the VW Group results for 2011, which equated to 47,400 units. Next year the VW Group will gain in the region of 150,000 units during the full year thanks to the addition of Porsche.

Outlook and implications

The fact that the VW Group has again once more generated not only record sales growth, but accelerated, double-digit sales growth, in a market that is in certain key regions undergoing some stress, is hugely impressive. This is highlighted by the company's sales and marketing chief in his comments above, but Christian Klinger is also realistic about the development of the global market moving into 2013 and the prospect that market turbulence could spread from Europe to other key sales regions. VW's growth in recent years has stemmed not only form its highly impressive vehicle ranges, mix of brands, and leading powertrain technology, but also the fact that it had the foresight to invest in key growth markets such as China and Brazil years before other OEMs did. China in particular will not be able to sustain the kind of growth levels it has generated in recent years over the long-term, however. For 2013, IHS Automotive forecasts that the company's sales will plateau next year after years of record growth and sales at around 9 million light-vehicle units. However, given the economies of scale that VW continues to generate through its shared vehicle hardware and R&D programmes, it is likely to continue to generate superior profitability levels to its global rivals, as well as continue its recent trend of taking global market share from its rivals as it continues with its strategy to become the world's biggest OEM group by sales volume by 2018.