Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen has sold fewer of its own-brand cars this year after its emissions cheat scandal.
But while global sales are down, rising demand in China helped soften the blow.
Volkswagen said in a statement that combined sales of all of its 12 different brands edged up by 0.8% in the first three months of this year.
Solid sales in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region offsetting falling sales in North and South America.
Volkswagen sold 2.5 million vehicles worldwide in the period from January to March, up from 2.48 million a year earlier.
In Australia, Volkswagen stayed at number eight in the top ten for March, with 5316 units sold (down 3.8%). The Golf was its biggest seller, with 1782 shifted for the month.
VW Australia has started the daunting recall process, with Amarok ute fixes currently underway. Other diesel models will be recalled in the coming months.
The company has also announced a new diesel model – the new\ Tiguan SUV to launch in September.
After being forced into the recall of 11 million cars globally, including almost 100,000 in Australia, it is the first diesel it has released since the scandal fired up.
In June, it will launch a 40th anniversary edition Golf GTI – a limited run model that will offer a premium package over the standard GTI.
The extras bump the ticked price up by $2500, bringing it to $48,990. The Golf GTI 40 Years will initially be available only with a speed DSG transmission.
China sales boost
Chinese sales grew by 6.4% in the first quartered. European sales were up 3.3% and Asia-Pacific sales rose by 4.3% while sales in North America were down 2.1% and sales in South America dropped by as much as 27.6%.
VW, which aside from its own brand also owns marques such as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Skoda and SEAT, was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis in September when it emerged it had used emissions-cheating software into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.
It is currently battling the uncertainty of ever-rising costs from the scandal and is already facing many billions of dollars in fines and compensation claims.
Sales of its own VW-brand vehicles suffered the most, falling by 1.3% in the January-March period to 1.45 million from 1.47 million a year earlier.
“Mixed regional market developments are reflected in our delivery figures,” notes Juergen Stackmann, head of sales at the VW brand.
“While Volkswagen passenger cars recorded the best delivery performance ever in China in the first quarter, the trend in South America in particular continues to decline,” Stackmann adds.
In its German home marked, VW delivered a total 138,700 of its own-brand cars to customers in the January-March period, 3.8% fewer than a year earlier.
“Own-brand sales were down in almost all regions in the first quarter of 2016, particularly in North and South America,” the carmaker notes.
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