Volkswagen, the world's largest automaker, reported a 1.4% decline in its brand deliveries in 2024, with a total of 4.8 million vehicles sold worldwide. The company attributed this decline to a challenging market environment, intense competition in China, and a regional slump in electric vehicle (EV) demand.



The Volkswagen brand's global deliveries fell by 1.4% to 4.8 million vehicles in 2024, with battery-electric sales down around 2.5%, Europe's top carmaker said on Thursday. "2024 was a difficult year worldwide," said Martin Sander, board member for sales, marketing, and aftersales, pointing to a weak economy and tough competition in China, its biggest market.

Deliveries in China, where it is facing a growing swath of electric-only domestic rivals, fell 8.3% to 2.2 million vehicles. Battery-electric vehicle sales came to just over 383,000, down from 394,000 last year, amid a regional slump in EV demand.

However, North America deliveries improved significantly to over 592,000, an 18.4% jump. The Volkswagen Group is expected to release its deliveries next week, with full-year results due for 2024 on March 11.

Despite the decline in deliveries, Volkswagen remains optimistic about its future prospects. The company is focusing on sustainable value creation and prioritizing long-term strategic goals over higher volumes in the highly competitive environment in China. For the full year 2024, Volkswagen continues to expect a slight increase in global deliveries compared to the previous year due to the launch and ramp-up of numerous important models in the second half of the year.



Volkswagen's electric vehicle (BEV) sales in 2024 experienced a decline of 2.7% compared to the previous year, with 383,100 all-electric deliveries. This decline was less severe than the overall decline in deliveries across all drive types, which fell by 1.4% to around 4.8 million vehicles. This indicates that while BEV sales did not grow as expected, they performed relatively better than the overall market.

In conclusion, Volkswagen's 1.4% decline in brand deliveries in 2024 can be attributed to a challenging market environment, intense competition in China, and a regional slump in EV demand. Despite these challenges, the company remains optimistic about its future prospects and continues to focus on sustainable value creation and long-term strategic goals.