Investing.com – Volkswagen (ETR: ) reported a cut in vehicle deliveries in 2024, driven in part by sluggish demand in China.
Globally, Volkswagen delivered 9.03 million vehicles last year, down 2.3% from the previous year. While this figure increased in both North and South America, it was offset by a 10.3% decline in the Asia-Pacific region.
“This was due to the intense competitive situation in China,” Volkswagen said, noting that deliveries in the country – the firm’s largest car market – fell by 9.5%. The decline came despite an 8% increase in sales of battery electric vehicles in China.
Continuous deliveries in Europe also fell by 0.1%, VW said, although it noted that it remains the leader in all-electric vehicle sales in the region. In particular, battery electric orders in Western Europe increased by around 88% year-on-year thanks to new models such as the VW ID.7 Tourer, Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan Electric.
In a statement, Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Oliver Blum said the operating environment had been “challenging” last year, a sign that carmakers are under pressure both from weak demand at home and from local rivals in China offering low-cost options to consumers struggling with uncertainty. . economic conditions.
Volkswagen is facing a “brutal price war” in China, said Marco Schubert, a member of the company’s extended executive sales committee. However, he added that “strategic realignment” and “consistent portfolio optimization” are beginning to bear fruit, “as a result of which we again approached last year’s volume in China in the last quarter.”
In September, Volkswagen cut its 2024 forecast to around nine million, amid challenges to its namesake brand as the division seeks to cut costs and boost profits.