Volkswagen Group China delivers over 3 million cars for first time

Volkswagen Group China achieved a new milestone for China’s auto industry, delivering more than 3 million cars to customers in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong for the first time. With its two Chinese joint ventures, Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, Volkswagen Group surpassed its targets for 2013 with 3.27 million deliveries (2012: 2.81 million) and 16.2 per cent growth. Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft as well as President and CEO Volkswagen Group China, stated: “2013 was a very successful year for us, and we intend to continue our growth in 2014. We are well prepared for new challenges in China’s auto market.”

Prof. Dr. Heizmann underscored the Group’s focus on people in its plan for China: “We will make quality customer service our top priority for 2014, bringing us even closer to our Chinese customers and achieving even greater performance in the market. Our success in China will be won through our ‘people-first’ China Strategy, which focuses on outstanding services and customer satisfaction, the best trained employees, and our responsibilities to the greater Chinese society. Volkswagen is on the road to becoming the most people-oriented car company in China.”

In the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Volkswagen Group China and its two joint ventures greatly exceeded prior-year deliveries. In 2013, 3.27 million units were handed over to customers, including around 214,100 imported vehicles, with a growth of 13.2 per cent in imported vehicles.

With a total of 2.51 (2012: 2.15) million units delivered the Volkswagen brand reported a year-on-year increase of 16.6 percent.

The excellent result of 2013 was made possible by the good performance of locally produced models such as New Lavida, New Passat, New Sagitar and New Bora and the newly launched models such as Tiguan Facelift, Gran Lavida, CC Facelift and New Jetta.

Group brands showed excellent performance in China

Audi set a new record in the Chinese market in 2013. Deliveries in China and Hong Kong climbed to 492,000 vehicles, an increase of 21.2 percent compared to the previous year. With this record Audi has increased its lead over the competition and has further strengthened the brand’s number one position in the premium segment in China.

Deliveries of the A4 L, A6 L and Q5 and this year newly launched Q3 model series built in Changchun increased by 26.3 percent year-on-year to 407,700 vehicles. The locally made models A4 L, A6 L and Q5 lead their respective market segments. The deliveries of imported Audi vehicles rose to around 84,300 units. Leading import models were the Audi Q7 and Audi A8. In 2014 Audi will further develop the growing premium compact car segment with the market launch of the locally produced Audi A3 Sportback and Audi A3 sedan from the brand’s new production facility in Foshan in South China.

ŠKODA is continuously pursuing its Growth Strategy to strengthen ŠKODA’s position in the Chinese market. The Czech automaker posted deliveries in 2013 with the number of almost 227,000 units. ŠKODA also started to sell imported models in China with the Yeti and Superb Combi.

In the luxury segment Lamborghini handed over 267 cars, Bentley showed a strong performance and achieved over 2,100 units. The sports car manufacturer Porsche, which became a Volkswagen Group brand since 1st of August 2012 delivered a total of more than 37,400 vehicles. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles also reported a strong increase in 2013, handed over almost 2,500 units in mainland China and Hong Kong. SEAT brand delivered around 1,100 vehicles to customers in its second year in China.