Porsche 2008 Annual Report Download - page 110

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Demand for the group’s vehicles on the shrink-
ing Argentine passenger car market fell 24.9
percent on the prior year to 50,914 vehicles.
Demand rose for the New Beetle and Audi A4.
The Volkswagen group was able to maintain
its market leadership in Argentina with a mar-
ket share of 25.1 percent (24.0 percent).
Asia-Pacific: maintaining the level
of the prior year
The passenger car market in the Asia-Pacific
region remained partially unaffected by the de-
velopment of the global economy in the first
half of 2009, with demand holding steady at the
prior-year level. The Volkswagen group deliver-
ed 725,728 vehicles to customers in the region,
an increase of 18.9 percent on the prior year.
On the Chinese passenger car market, sales
figures rose 22.7 percent to 652,436 vehicles.
The Jetta, Santana, Audi A4, Audi Q7 and Škoda
Octavia models enjoyed growing popularity.
The Volkswagen group’s share of the highly
competitive Chinese passenger car market fell
to 17.9 percent (19.0 percent), although it held
on to market leadership.
Deliveries totaling 26,410 units meant that sales
in the shrinking Japanese passenger car market
fell 19.8 percent on the prior year. The Golf,
Audi A3 and Audi A4 models saw increases in
demand. Demand for the group’s vehicles also
fell in the region’s other markets, including
Australia and India.
Brands developing differently
A look at the delivery volumes of the Volks-
wagen group in the first half of 2009 broken
down by brand also gives a differentiated
picture. The Volkswagen passenger car brand
performed well given the decline of certain
international markets. 1,948,979 vehicles were
sold, 2.2 percent more than in the compar-
able period of the prior year. This is mainly due
to gains made in important markets such as
China and Germany.
The other group brands were unable to repeat
the delivery volumes of the first six months
of 2008. With 465,978 vehicles delivered, Audi
suffered a decline of 9.7 percent on the prior
year, and Škoda saw sales drop 10.1 percent
to 329,641 vehicles, while SEAT saw sales
of 173,378 units, down 15.7 percent on the
figure for the prior year. Falling sales figures
were also seen at Bentley (minus 52.5 per-
cent), Lamborghini (minus 37.0 percent) and
Bugatti (minus 30.3 percent).
Deliveries at Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge fell
31.8 percent to 179,266 units in the first half
of the year. Between January and June 2009,
Scania delivered 20,667 heavy-duty com-
mercial vehicles to customers throughout the
world, including 3,049 busses.
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