Volkswagen Brand Group
Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand continues positive development
Every fifth vehicle registered in Germany in 2006 was a Volkswagen. Record sales levels by Škoda contributed to the sales growth of the Volkswagen brand group. ForMotionplus program bears fruit.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
With its Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, Bentley and Bugatti brands, the Volkswagen brand group sold 3.9 million vehicles in 2006, a 10.8% increase year-on-year. Sales of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand increased substantially by 11.5% to 3.4 million vehicles. The share of the total brand group sales attributable to this brand was therefore 85.2% (84.7%). The Fox and Polo models were particularly popular with customers in 2006, leading the German registration statistics in their respective segments. Demand for the Golf remained high and the model continues to head the list of all newly registered passenger cars in Germany. Following its successful launch in May 2006, the Eos quickly established itself at the top of the convertible segment. The fact that every fifth vehicle registered in Germany in 2006 was a Volkswagen also owes much to the success of the Touran.
573 thousand Škoda brand vehicles were sold in 2006. This is a year-on-year improvement of 13.7% and is the twelfth consecutive record level of registrations. In addition to the Fabia, Octavia and Superb models, the newly launched Škoda Roomster also contributed significantly to this positive development.
The Bentley brand registered sales of 8,916 vehicles, which was on a level with last year’s figures. The new Bentley Continental GT convertible met with a positive response from the market.
The Volkswagen brand group increased its production by 8.3% to 3.9 million vehicles last year. Of this total, 3.3 million units (+ 8.8%) are attributable to the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, whereby our Chinese joint venture companies recorded the strongest increase in production. A total of 556 thousand Škoda model units were produced – a 12.6% increase year-on-year. In 2006, the Bentley brand again set a new production record with a total of 10,036 vehicles produced.
VOLKSWAGEN BRAND GROUP
SALES REVENUE AND EARNINGS
In 2006, the Volkswagen brand group generated sales revenue of €54.9 billion, 10.4% more than in the previous year. This was mainly driven by the increase in unit sales owing to the full availability of the Passat and Jetta models, the market success of the Eos and the record level of Škoda sales. In 2006, operating profit increased by €908 million year-on-year to €1.4 billion. Thanks to the measures implemented as part of the ForMotionplus performance enhancement program, we have established a good starting position to reach our medium-term targets. The operating profit of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda and Bentley brands improved considerably. This was primarily due to the increase in unit sales and optimized cost structures.
PRODUCTION
