VW sells a record-breaking 10.74m vehicles in 2017

In spite of the annus horribilis that was 2015 and its immediate effects on VW Group sales, 2017 saw the total number of Audi, VW, Porsche, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti cars sold worldwide expand to a record-breaking 10.74 million. In fact, that is just 4.3 percent up compared to 2016, indicating that dieselgate had only a short and relatively limited impact. China (+5.1 percent, 4.18m units) and Latin America (+23.7 percent, 522k units) are the main drivers behind the global growth of VW Group.  

In the USA, where the emission scandal was brought to light, Volkswagen Group sold 5.8 percent more vehicles last year, on a market that contracted by 1.8 percent. Western Europeans were less enthusiastic about VW, posting a modest 1.4 percent increase. In its native Germany, VW Group even fell back by 0.4 percent, whereas the entire market grew by 2.7 percent. Still, the Golf, Passat and Tiguan stay put in the German sales top three and allow VW to remain the most popular brand at home.

Renault-Nissan stated they had sold 10.6 million cars last year, which would make them the second largest OEM. However, CEO Carlos Ghosn told the French National Assembly that VW's figures include 200,000 trucks and that these should be deducted. That would make Renault-Nissan the number one car manufacturing group of 2017. Toyota Motor Company reported an estimated 10.53 million cars in December 2017.