Volkswagen reports the lowest vehicle sales in a decade in 2021

Volkswagen AG (VOWG) on Wednesday reported its lowest sales in 10 years in 2021 as it delivered 8.9 million vehicles. The auto maker also said it expected supply chain conditions to remain volatile during the first half of 2022.

Sales at the Volkswagen brand dropped 8.1% year-on-year to just under 4.9 million vehicles, while the steepest decrease, 14.8%, was observed in China, the company said.

In comparison, luxury auto maker BMW reported record deliveries of 2.21 million vehicles from the BMW brand last year.

Meanwhile, Daimler said last week that Mercedes-Benz sales had decreased 5% year-on-year in 2021, as it lost its top spot to BMW for the first time in five years as the premium auto maker with the largest number of vehicles sold globally.

“Under unusually challenging circumstances, Volkswagen reached a satisfying sales result,” sales and marketing chief Klaus Zellmer said in a statement.

“However, the huge effects of chips on production were not able to be fully compensated,” he added.

As of 8:25 GMT on Thursday the shares of Volkswagen AG were retreating 1.49% (EUR 4.10) on the day to trade at EUR 271.90 in Frankfurt.