FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen brand vehicle sales fell 4.8 percent in April as lower volumes in China, Russia and South America continue to outweigh gains in Europe.
The April drop was steeper than a 1 percent fall in March. Through April VW brand volume is down 2.2 percent.
April sales declined to 496,100, VW said in a statement on Wednesday. Four-month sales declined to 1.98 million.
In China, VW's biggest single market, sales slid 2.4 percent to 899,400 units. South American sales fell 19.4 percent to 167,400 with Brazil sales plunging 24 percent to 126,100. Russian sales dropped 47 percent to 24,300.
Russia and South America "continue to require our full attention," VW sales and marketing chief Christian Klingler said in the statement.
U.S. volume was down 7.5 percent to 109,200 through April. European sales rose 2.5 percent to 582,000.
VW did not break down sales by market for April.
VW Group will release sales for all the company's 12 brands later this month.
Reuters contributed to this report
