Volkswagen Hits Limits Of Growth In Europe

If you read Volkswagen's global sales report for May, you get the impression that this was yet another great month. Global sales are up  7.8 percent in May. Things don't look so rosy when you analyze the numbers a bit further. As in last month, the blue numbers are calculated from archival data, the black numbers are as reported by Volkswagen AG. We have to do it this way, because Volkswagen does not deliver monthly data, except for the total global sales. 5M'12 5M'11 YoY May '12 May '11 YoY Total 3,650,000 3,370,000 8.3% 763,800 708,800 7.8% Europe 1,580,000 1,560,000 1.3% 330,000 330,000 0.0% Ger 493,900 475,100 4.0% 106,400 108,100 -1.6% WEUR ex D 825,800 881,900 -6.4% 164,400 178,900 -8.1% EEUR 262,600 202,300 29.8% 57,500 47,000 22.3% China 1,080,000 920,000 17.4% 221,100 178,800 23.7% USA 224,100 172,300 30.1% 50,400 40,800 23.5% South Am 376,700 376,800 0.0% 79,800 81,500 -2.1% We see that growth in Europe came to a halt. This is Europe as defined by Volkswagen. We won't be surprised  if Europe as defined as the EU will carry a minus when ACEA reports the numbers in a few days. Germany is down 1.7 percent. Western Europe ex Germany is down  8.1 percent. Eastern Europe, up 22.3 percent, is the only European bright spot. "We continue to focus very closely on the growing uncertainties in the eurozone",Volkswagen Group sales chief Christian Klingler said today. With approximately half of Volkswagen's global business in Europe, and with South American sputtering, Volkswagen relies mostly on China and to a lesser degree on the U.S.A. for growth.   from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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