VW Group's annual deliveries fall 7% to lowest in over a decade

BERLIN -- Volkswagen Group reported its lowest sales in over a decade in 2022 as COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine upended supply chains, and a fourth-quarter recovery risks running into further challenges this year.

The group, whose brands range from mass-market VWs and Skodas to premium Audis and Bentleys, said on Thursday in a statement that demand dropped 7 percent to 8.3 million vehicles last year. Sales of full-electric cars fared better however, rising 26 percent. The ID4 and ID5 were the best-selling electric models.

The overall sales tally indicates the group will remain in second place globally for the third year in a row behind Japan's Toyota Group, which by November had already produced over 9.5 million cars.

VW Group sales rose 14 percent in the fourth quarter, but the outlook for 2023 remains clouded by weak economies and supply-chain shortages, extended executive sales committee member Hildegard Wortmann said.

Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley weathered 2022 better than VW brand and Skoda, with deliveries down around 4 percent at the premium brands and down 9 percent for mass-market vehicles.

High-end automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz earlier this week also reported a smaller decline in sales than some mass-market rivals, with falls of 5.1 percent and 1 percent respectively.

Both BMW and Mercedes sales also picked up in the fourth quarter as supply chains improved and China relaxed its COVID-19 policies, though some companies have warned rising cases in the country among staff could still stymie output.

The VW Group's deliveries were up 12 percent in the second half of the year, but the full-year figure was dragged down by a drop of over a fifth in the first half.

Still, it maintained its position as Europe's top electric-vehicle maker and saw a 26 percent rise in EV sales globally, boosted by an increase of almost two-thirds in China.

The group is aiming for all-electric sales in 2023 to be 11 percent of the total, a stepping stone to its 2030 target of making half of all sales full electric.