car industry
Volkswagen has to accept a slump in sales in China
VW China boss Stephan Wöllenstein. Photo: Ng Han Guan / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
“It was a pretty difficult year”: China is the Volkswagen Group’s largest single market. But in 2021 the Wolfsburg-based automaker did poorly in the Asian country.
The Volkswagen Group’s sales in its largest single market in China fell by 14 percent last year.
VW China boss Stephan Wöllenstein cited the lack of semiconductors and problems in the supply chains as the reason for journalists in Beijing. “It was a pretty difficult year.”
The decline mainly affected the volume brands Volkswagen and Skoda, reported Wöllenstein. The premium brand Audi did less badly with a minus of 3.6 percent. Porsche was able to sell 8 percent and Bentley even 43 percent more cars. The overall market had grown by four percent.
The Volkswagen Group’s market share in China, which had long been 14 or 15 percent, fell to 11 percent. This year, however, the Volkswagen Group wants to catch up again strongly, as Wöllenstein said. While the overall market is expected to grow by four percent, Volkswagen wants to grow by 15 percent. “We want to regain disproportionately what we lost over the past year.”
Sales of electric cars from Volkswagen’s ID family developed positively towards the end of the year. After the target for 2021 of 80,000 to 100,000 had been missed and “a little more than 70,000” had actually been sold, Wöllenstein wants to “at least” double sales this year. He was certain that Volkswagen could sell any ID car that could be built.