Volkswagen sales drop in tough year at home and in China

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen's unit sales fell 2.3% in 2024 to just over 9 million vehicles, the German automaker reported on Tuesday, as it struggles to cut costs at home and fight a price war in China, its biggest market.

The company's unit sales in Germany dipped 2.2%, while in China, it dropped 10% in what it described as a "fierce price war".

Still, battery-electric sales performed better in China, increasing 8% compared with a 3.4% drop globally.

Volkswagen had revised down its 2024 deliveries forecast to around nine million in September because of challenges at its namesake brand, which launched a cost-cutting drive to boost profits amid rising competition and shrinking demand.

Sales data from Germany's top-end carmakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche, showed they took a battering at home and in China in 2024, as wealthier consumers held back on purchases in uncertain economies and on slower than expected electric vehicle sales.

The Skoda and SEAT/CUPRA brands outperformed Volkswagen Passenger Cars, with growth of around 7% compared with a 1.4% drop at the namesake brand.

Volkswagen is releasing another 30 models this year across the group and said its order intake was up in western Europe by around 88% year-on-year, driven by new models like the VW ID.7 Tourer, Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan Electric. (This story has been refiled to specify sales in unit terms in paragraphs 1 and 2)

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee. Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)