Volkswagen AG has reported that sales growth in Europe has slowed to its lowest level in eight months. VW delivered a total of 492,500 vehicles in September, which represents the smallest gain since January’s 0.1 per cent. As a result, the company has revised its projections for the end of the year, lowering estimates by 300,000 units. Volkswagen has been one of the few automakers to actually experience growth in Europe over recent months, with many rivals, notably Fiat, Peugeot and Renault, as well as Ford and General Motors’ local operations suffering significant declines.
Yesterday, Christian Klinger, VW’s sales chief, said, “we remain very vigilant given the continued difficult conditions in western European auto markets.” In response to lower sales estimates, VW suspended production of its German built Passat sedan and has also cut global demand forecasts across all of its brands to 9.4 million vehicles for the year, down from 9.7 million.
Analysts worry that the situation in Europe is likely to get worse before it gets better, not helped by overcapacity and deep discounting designed to move metal off dealer lots.
“There’s no letup in the European auto slump and VW can’t extricate itself from the crisis,” remarked Sascha Gommel an industry analyst with Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
