Volkswagen sales growth driven by mass-market brands, Audi

BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters): Volkswagen's increase in sales last year was driven by its mass-market cars and premium brand Audi, whose sales outstripped pre-pandemic deliveries at 1.9 million vehicles, according to data released on Friday.
The German carmaker reported on Tuesday a 12 per cent rise in deliveries last year to 9.24 million vehicles, marking a post-pandemic recovery as supply chain bottlenecks eased.
On Friday, it reported a 34.6 per cent jump in SEAT/CUPRA sales, a 6.7 per cent rise in VW passenger car sales, and a 17.4 per cent increase in sales at Audi, which had struggled to recover from the pandemic and hovered around the same sales figures since 2020.
Volkswagen's proportion of battery-electric vehicle (EV) sales was lower than its German competitors at 8.3 per cent, after it was forced to cut shifts and staffing at EV-producing plants late last year when demand was not developing as expected.
Data also indicated a challenging year in China, where the market share of its joint ventures with FAW and SAIC - including the VW, Audi, and Jetta brands - shrank from 14.8 per cent to 14.2 per cent, according to the China Passenger Car Association.