Upheaval in the auto industry: Herber dampener for VW in August sales

While VW is driving the future of automobility, there is bad news on the part of the sales figures.

Sales fell noticeably in August.

Wolfsburg - In the medium term, Volkswagen and the other German manufacturers are exercising confidence.

However, there is currently a setback in terms of sales for the largest car manufacturer on the continent.

VW suffered significant losses in sales of its cars in August.

This applies to both the core brand VW Passenger Cars and other premium brands of the group.

Globally, the Wolfsburg-based company delivered 616,500 vehicles to the entire Volkswagen Group * last month, 22.3 percent fewer than in the same month last year.

However: Over the course of the year, VW still sold more cars than in Corona-plagued 2020: After the first eight months, there is still an increase of 13.3 percent to 6.32 million vehicles.

The main reason for the decline in sales were mainly the lockdowns in the spring.

Volkswagen: Sales figures are dwindling, especially in Asia

At Volkswagen, however, the trend of the past few months continues: In China, the world's most important single market *, VW got rid of 238,200 vehicles in August, which is a third fewer than a year ago. Above all, the shortage in the supply of semiconductors plays a role here, because the authorities have closed plants at the chip suppliers in important Asian markets due to high COVID numbers in recent months.

But sales in Western Europe were also around a sixth below the previous year's figure.

In Germany last year, the temporarily reduced VAT from July onwards resulted in higher sales - incidentally, a decisive reason why the inflation rate is currently so high in Germany.

That, and also the tremendous transformation the auto industry is undergoing, could deter many people from getting a car.

VW sales figures: Audi sales shrink - some group brands stable

With the exception of the truck brands Scania and MAN and the small luxury brands Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti taken together, all of the Group's brands saw some severe declines.

VW Passenger Cars sold almost a quarter fewer cars last month, while the premium subsidiary Audi * delivered a fifth fewer.

The sports car manufacturer Porsche * was also able to sell almost a fifth fewer cars.

Only the Spaniards from Seat were able to almost match the previous year's sales result.

A few weeks ago, VW boss Herbert Diess announced a race to catch up for the second half of 2021 and spoke about long delivery times and high prices.