Commenting on the
Volkswagen Group’s published deliveries for January to March 2026, Marco Schubert (pictured) — the member of the Group’s ‘Extended Executive Committee for Sales’ — said: “The first quarter of 2026 was once again characterised by very challenging economic and geopolitical conditions that saw the worldwide automotive market decline overall through to the end of March. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen Group largely maintained its global market share compared to the same period last year.
“Our delivery figures in Europe continued to show a positive trend. Here, we once again posted growth — and increased the share of all-electric vehicles. In China and the USA, the total market declines also affected our deliveries; and while the war in the Middle East has so far led to disruptions in the directly affected markets, this has not had a significant impact on the Volkswagen Group’s overall deliveries.
“For the coming months, we expect further positive momentum from key new models. These include such as the ‘Electric Urban Car Family’ in Europe and new locally developed electric models in China.” Highlighting some of the data, Mr Schubert said that at 2.05 million vehicles, global deliveries in the first quarter were down 4% from Q1 2025 (2.13 million vehicles), adding that growth in South America (+7%), Western Europe (+4%) and Central and Eastern Europe (+8%) only partially offset declines in China (-15%) and North America (-13%).
“Worldwide, BEV deliveries through the end of March amounted to some 200,000 vehicles, down 8% from the previous year’s 216,800 vehicles. That said, the Volkswagen Group remains the clear BEV market leader in Europe and continues on a growth trajectory of +12% and the BEV share in Western Europe rising from 19 to 20%. However, BEV total markets in China and the USA fell significantly; and with the launch of new, locally developed electric models pending, Volkswagen Group’s BEV deliveries in China fell by 64%. In the US, the increased tariffs in effect since April 2025 have seen an 80% decline.
“That said, new models across all drive types — such as the VW T-Roc, CUPRA Terramar, Škoda Elroq, Audi Q3, and Porsche Cayenne Electric — are ensuring a rising order intake above the high level of the previous year; order intake across all powertrains increased by 3%, while BEV order intake increased by 4%; and at 109,000 vehicles, global PHEV (plug-in hybrid) deliveries were up about 31% year-over-year.”