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In June, there was a rise of 1.6 percent in deliveries by the Volkswagen Group compared with June 2018, to 974,400 vehicles. This positive development was chiefly driven by Chi-na, where 15 percent more vehicles than in June 2018 were handed over to customers. The new emissions standard C6 has applied since July 1, 2019, which led customers to bring purchases forward to June. There had been similar effects in Europe in June 2018. Vehicle deliveries in this region had reached a high level as a result of WLTP last June; as expected, there was therefore a fall (-4.8 percent) in June 2019. In North America (-0.5 percent) deliv-eries were slightly below those of the same month last year, South America (-0.1 percent) developed almost unchanged. Dr. Christian Dahlheim, Head of Volkswagen Group Sales: “In June, the brands of the Volkswagen Group achieved good performance and boosted deliveries in overall markets that continued to shrink. In China, we benefited especially strongly from the positive impetus given by the changeover in emissions standards. It remains to be seen whether this will lead to a general turnaround there. All in all, we can look back on a successful first half of the year: the Group has maintained its position in a challenging market environment and expanded its global market share.”

Volkswagen and Ford expand their global alliance.

In May, there was a fall in deliveries by the Volkswagen Group compared with May 2018, but the decrease was lower than in previous months at 3.6 percent. In total, 918,900 cus-tomers throughout the world took delivery of a vehicle from a Group brand. Growth was achieved in some key European markets (Germany +4.6 percent, France +2.7 percent, Italy +2.7 percent), and in the regions of North America (+4.3 percent) and South America (+5.8 percent). However, these rises were insufficient to compensate in full for falls in other re-gions, especially Asia-Pacific (-9.4 percent). Dr. Christian Dahlheim, Head of Volkswagen Group Sales, commented: “In May, our brands asserted their position in shrinking overall markets and slightly increased the global market share. Deliveries developed in different ways in the various markets. In Europe, we almost reached the high level of the previous year and recorded growth in some key markets including Germany. Positive impetus came from North and South America, but this was insufficient to compensate for the continuing weakness of the overall market in our largest single market, China. It is gratifying to note that we once again significantly increased our market share in China.”

The Volkswagen Group is expanding its business in its most important market, China. Volkswagen Group China, SEAT and the Chinese auto manufacturer JAC, which together form the joint venture JAC Volkswagen, continue to drive SEAT's market entry strategy. The Spanish brand aims to enter the Chinese market in the coming two to three years. An agreement has now been reached in Martorell, Spain, during a visit by a delegation of Chinese government officials from the Anhui province. Anhui’s provincial capital Hefei is where the headquarters of the JAC Volkswagen joint venture is located, which was founded in 2017 and focuses on the development, production and marketing of pure battery vehicles. China plays a central role in the global transformation of the Volkswagen Group and its decarbonization program. Already this year, the range of electrified vehicles will be expanded. By 2028, more than half of the 22 million e-cars planned by the Group will be produced in China. The goal is to deliver around 1.5 million electrified vehicles, most of them pure e-cars, to customers by 2025.

On the occasion of the International Biodiversity Day on 22 May 2019, Volkswagen is calling on all corporate brands and locations to provide support to nature conservation projects and especially conserve insects under the motto "Biodiversity as a livelihood".

The Volkswagen Group delivered 866,400 vehicles in April, 6,6 percent below the figure for April 2018. In the month under review, all core regions recorded declines in the overall market. This was a result of the sluggish economy in some markets and the tense geopoliti-cal situation in other markets. Dr. Christian Dahlheim, Head of Volkswagen Group Sales, commented: “In many major countries, the overall market experienced a downturn in April. In our largest single market of China, the customers of many brands continued to be reluctant to purchase despite the reduction in the VAT rate. The Volkswagen Group was not immune to this trend. Over the next few months, we will be introducing key new models and continue to look forward rather more optimistically to the second half of the year.”