Volkswagen Sales Hit 10-Year Low... Electric Vehicle Sales Double

Record High BMW Sales... Breaking Mercedes-Benz's 5-Year Reign and Reclaiming Top Luxury Brand Position

[Photo by Reuters-Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Major foreign media reported on the 12th (local time) that Volkswagen Group's car sales last year recorded the lowest in 10 years. Sales volume in the Chinese market significantly decreased due to the semiconductor supply shortage.

Volkswagen announced that its car sales last year totaled 8.9 million units, a 4.5% decrease compared to 2020. Volkswagen expects that supply chain conditions will remain uncertain until the first half of this year.

Volkswagen brand sales dropped by 8.1% to 4.9 million units. In particular, Volkswagen sales in China, the world's largest market, plunged by 14.8%. However, increased sales in the United States by 13% offset the overall decline in sales volume.

Klaus Zellmer, Volkswagen's Head of Sales and Marketing, stated, "Considering the unusually difficult conditions, Volkswagen achieved a satisfactory sales result," adding, "We could not fully compensate for the impact caused by the semiconductor shortage."

However, Volkswagen reported that the luxury brand BMW recorded an all-time high sales volume of 2.21 million units.

This contrasted with Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, BMW's competitor, whose sales decreased by 5% last year. Mercedes-Benz lost its position as the number one luxury car seller to BMW for the first time in five years.

The fortunes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz diverged in the European market. Sales of BMW and Mini brands increased by 3.9%, while Mercedes-Benz sales declined by 11.2%. In the U.S. market, Mercedes-Benz sales rose by only 0.4%, whereas BMW sales increased by 19.5%.

Volkswagen also showed encouraging results in electric vehicle sales. Electric vehicle sales increased by 96% compared to 2020, reaching 452,900 units. The proportion of electric vehicles in total sales rose from 2.5% in 2020 to 5.1% last year.

Especially in the Chinese market, where overall sales sharply declined, electric vehicle sales quadrupled. However, Volkswagen initially aimed to sell 80,000 to 100,000 units but reportedly only sold 70,000 units.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.