Volkswagen Group Delivers Strong First Quarter, Bloggers Be Damned
A few days ago, we looked at Volkswagen and said that “we expect a growth of group sales well over 10 percent in the first quarter” when Volkswagen does publish its Q1 data by the end of the week. Wolfsburg did not disappoint. Volkswagen sold 1.97 million cars globally in the first three months of 2011. In the same period of last year, it was 1.73 million vehicles, for a growth of 13.7 percent.
The “increase means Europe’s largest automaker also clearly outperformed the overall market, which grew 8.1 percent,” proclaims a statement emailed from Wolfsburg. Group sales in March were also respectable: 767,200 units, up 8.1 percent over March 2010, and a new record.
From the perspective of America, where Volkswagen has been relatively luckless ever since the success of the Bug, these numbers may look surprising.
Speaking of China: Q1 Volkswagen Group sales grew 19.9 percent in China to 548,500 units, outpacing both the Chinese market (up 8 percent in Q1) and its rival GM China (up 10 percent in Q1). Even North America, a market that supposedly shuns VW, if blogs and their commentariat are to be believed, registered strong gains: 143,900 units were sold in Q1, up 17.9 percent over Q1 2010.
Q1/2011Q1/2010ChangeVW1,230,0001,110,00010.40%Audi312,600264,01714.80%Skoda217,100178,90021.40%Seat90,80088,3002.8%Commercial121,20089,00036.2%Total1,970,000 1,730,0013.7%
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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So, I do read complaints about the Jetta's "cheapened interiors" and a "coarse engine". There are also regrets that "standard U.S.-market model the rear suspension is a single torsion beam, whereas on the European-spec Jetta, it comes with a 4-link set-up". I can't believe it. With a base price of $15,995, you get what you pay for. Pay EU prices and you will get it better. if you prefer "cheap" you will get "cheap". In the meantime, some Germans whine that such cheap VWs are not offered in Europe, stating that "nobody will notice the difference between a single torsion beam and 4-link set-up", ranting about luxury 4-disk-braking systems, and "rear drum brakes certainly do".
They really seem to be chasing Toyota in vanilla design. If a new Jetta were to park next to a new Corolla you would be hard pressed to tell the difference from a distance.
A cheapened version of a car with an upscale reputation always sells well at first. This is the road Cadillac followed in the 1970s...
I also think the torsion beam suspension and drum rear brakes are less of a problem than the cheapened interior, bland styling, and apparent indifferent suspension tuning. One gets the impression that the German engineers decided that if they were going to install a less than optimal suspension design, there was no reason to really fine tune its performance and behavior.