(July 20, 2015) WOLFSBURG, Germany — Vehicle deliveries by the Volkswagen Group in the first half of 2015 continued at a high level and remained virtually stable, again topping the five million mark. In total, 5.04 million vehicles were sold January to June. Volkswagen says that with deliveries running at 840,400 in June (a decline of 4.3 percent from 2014) the situation was tense.

“Overall, Volkswagen Group brands recorded satisfactory development in the first half of the year in what has in some cases been a difficult market environment. Developments in South America and Russia remain tense, as do conditions in China, where growth on the overall market has been shrinking steadily since the beginning of this year and became negative in June for the first time in several years. As the market leader, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in particular was not immune to these changes currently affecting the market”, Group Board Member for Sales Christian Klingler said in Wolfsburg on Friday.

Group brands grew deliveries on the overall European market, in some countries quite significantly, in the first half of the year, handing over a total of 2.11 million vehicles to customers, representing a 3.7 percent  increase.  In Western Europe (excluding Germany), sales were up 6.9 percent.

Deliveries in the North America region from January to June rose by 6.0 percent to 451,200 units, of which 295,000 were handed over to customers in the United States, a 2.4 percent increase from 2014.

Chiefly as a result of the downturn in Volkswagen brand deliveries in China, the Group handed over 1.94 (2.00; -3.0 percent) million vehicles to customers in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half year, of which 1.74 (1.81; -3.9 percent) million units were delivered in China, the Group’s largest single market.