VW brand sales rise 5.5% in May as China demand offsets Europe drop

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group said today that global sales of its core VW brand rose 5.5 percent in May to 503,100 vehicles, buoyed by gains in China, which helped offset weak Europe sales and a slowdown in markets including the United States. "Overall the Volkswagen passenger cars brand is showing stable development despite continuing economic uncertainty, although the trends vary quite significantly," sales chief Christian Klingler said in a statement. "While deliveries in China, for example, continued to rise, unit sales for May in other regions such as western Europe declined," he added. Europe, U.S., Russia, Brazil sales drop Five-month brand sales gained 5 percent to 2.41 million vehicles thanks to continued growth in China. The brand's sales in western Europe, excluding Germany, fell 7 percent to 351,400 through May. In Germany, volume fell 10 percent to 229,300. In central and eastern Europe, deliveries were flat, falling 0.2 percent to 108,200, and sales in Russia fell 4 percent to 62,600. Through May, deliveries in China, including Hong Kong, rose 20 percent to 980,000, but in the United States, sales dropped slightly by 0.4 percent to at 169,800. In South America, volume declined by 3 percent to 303,100 with deliveries in Brazil falling 2 percent to 227,100.