VW sales collapse further in April

Car sales collapsed further in April for Volkswagen, falling by more than two-thirds in the carmaker’s domestic market, the company’s sales boss said on Monday.

“Year on year, we have lost 67 per cent of the volume in Germany,” Juergen Stackmann, board member for VW’s core passenger cars brand, told reporters in a telephone conference.

However, he noted that this was still a relatively good position in the current crisis, with the plunge in demand much higher in other countries.

Total deliveries of passenger cars across Europe fell by 83 per cent compared to April 2019, Stackmann said.

Business had ground to a near halt in Britain, France, Italy and Spain, with a drop in sales of 99 per cent. Meanwhile, the situation was stabilizing in China, he added.

The company is now seeking to offset uncertainty and dealership closures with a raft of customer incentives in Germany.

These include discounted leasing and financing offers for new and used cars and a rate protection scheme for customers who lose their jobs.

Source: dpa