VW core brand in trouble
June 10, 2015
Europe's largest auto maker reported Wednesday that sales of its core brand vehicles dropped again in May, following a monthly decline in the previous month.
The company said it managed to sell 499,500 Volkswagen cars in May globally, marking a 5.9-percent decrease compared with the same month a year earlier.
VW sales chief Christian Klingler noted 2.48 million core brand vehicles were sold worldwide in the first five months of the year, down from a total of 2.55 million units in the same period in 2014.
Setback in emerging economies
Demand in May varied considerably in different regions, the Wolfsburg-based auto maker pointed out.
It said that core brand sales on its home market, Germany, rose by 6.2 percent to total 249,000 units. But sales volume in the US recorded a decline. At the same time, the company suffered another setback in emerging markets, particularly in China, Russia and Brazil.
Nevertheless, the company hinted that prospects for the months to come were slightly better. In fact, the firm was planning up to 26 extra shifts in its production facility in Wolfsburg as order books were full and demand gratifyingly stable for the brand's Golf, Tiguan and Touran models.
hg/sri (dpa, Reuters)