BERLIN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Global sales at the Volkswagen Group have risen to the highest level ever recorded during the first half of a year, the Wolfsburg-based carmaker announced on Tuesday.
The Volkswagen Group delivered more than 5.5 million vehicles to customers between January and June 2018, up by 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year. Sales rose by an annualized 4.1 percent to a total of 958,600 vehicles in the most recent month of June.
"We have achieved the best half year in our corporate history," Fred Kappler, Volkswagen Head of Sales, commented on the development.
The corporate sales figures were released on the same day as German prosecutors presented Volkswagen executives with detailed charges against them in the diesel emissions scandal. The automotive corporations continued growth, hereby underscored the remarkable resilience of its brands against reputational damage suffered from emissions-cheating practices.
Volkswagen was able to record increasing sales in all of the major economies covered by its international distribution network. In China, the company's single most important customer market, sales rose by 9.2 percent to just under 2 million vehicles during the first half of 2018. Brazilian sales also increased significantly by 22.6 percent, while deliveries in the U.S. and Germany were up by 6.3 percent and 4.6 percent respectively.
Broken down by brand, sales of the more affordable vehicle ranges of Skoda and Seat grew most rapidly in June. By contrast, luxury carmaker Audi experienced a 3.8 percent decline in deliveries.
In spite of the strong overall performance during the first six months of the year, Volkswagen warned on Tuesday that deliveries were likely to fall again in the second half of 2018 as upcoming regulatory changes caused delays. The automotive group has yet to obtain approval for all of their models in accordance with the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLPT) for exhaust systems which will become legally-binding in the European Union (EU) for all newly-registered cars as of September 2018.
"Some vehicles will probably have to be handed over to customers later than planned," Kappler said.
Volkswagen revealed earlier that backlogs in the completion of the certification process would cause unexpected downtime at its Wolfsburg-based plant in the summer. The company hereby joined several other major carmakers in Germany which reported the experience of logistical and financial difficulties stemming from the implementation of the new exhaust emissions-testing regime.
Volkswagen currently employs more than 600,000 staff across the world and includes the brands Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Bentley, as well as a truck production unit. The publicly-listed group achieved gross combined revenue over more than 230 billion euros (269 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017.
