Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles off to a successful start

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles achieve powerful rise in sales figures from January to March 2011. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Europe’s leading manufacturer delivered 121,200 light commercial vehicles worldwide from all series, and attained an increase of 36.2 percent over the comparable period in the previous year (Q1 2010: 89,000 vehicles).
 
“The excellent start to 2011 confirms our aim of exploiting all growth potentials consistently and systematically”, emphasises Harald Schomburg, Board Member with responsibility for Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.  “And thanks to our innovative and technically superior commercial vehicles we’re winning new customers – and we’re going to keep on doing it“.
 
In Western Europe, sales from January to March 2011 were up by 21.9 percent, to 65,300 units (Q1 2010: 53,600 vehicles). The highest volume market was Germany, with 25,900 deliveries to customers (Q1 2010: 24,150 vehicles; up by 7.4 percent). On other European volume markets, in the first three months of 2011, products from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles achieved high two-figure delivery growth rates. In Great Britain, sales were up by 24.9 percent, in France by 29 percent, in the Netherlands by 33.7 percent, in Switzerland by 47.3 percent, and in Austria by 84.3 percent.
 
In Eastern Europe growth in sales amounted to 64.4 percent, and in the Near East, particularly in Turkey, deliveries were almost double those of the previous year. The strongest region for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles outside Europe was South America, with a boost in deliveries by 47.8 percent to 32,900 vehicles (Q1 2010: 22,200 vehicles).
 
As Harald Schomburg says: “Our dealers, importers, and partners all over the world have made use of what we have to offer in a really professional manner, and have done an excellent job. It is also particularly important that we are now growing at an above-average rate on the international market”.
 
The most significant series product in terms of volume from January to March, with a worldwide rise of 13.8 percent to 37,500 deliveries, was the T5 (Q1 2010: 32,950 vehicles). Worldwide deliveries of the Caddy were up by 44.7 percent, to 36,600 units (Q1 2010: 25,270), while the Crafter achieved 8,200 deliveries (Q1: 8,250).
 
With the New Crafter, advance sales of which start on the European markets successively from April, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will have completed the basic conceptual review of its series of vehicles, “Less consumption, more payload, and fewer operating costs: These are the values with which the New Crafter is setting new standards in its competitive environment”, as Schomburg explains. “And here too we are winning new customers and looking to the future with real optimism.”
 
The first quarter was also particularly successful for the new Pick-Up Amarok, which achieved 13,900 deliveries (Q1 2010: 111 vehicles).
 
“Following this excellent start, we can see real further potential this year for a course of sustained and powerful growth”, as Schomburg emphasises.