Brands and Business Fields

GROUP STRUCTURE

The Volkswagen Group consists of two divisions: the Automotive Division and the Financial Services Division. The Automotive Division comprises both the Passenger Cars Business Area and the Commercial Vehicles/Power Engineering Business Area. We report the Passenger Cars segment and the reconciliation in the Passenger Cars Business Area. The Commercial Vehicles/Power Engineering Business Area consists of the Commercial Vehicles and the Power Engineering segments. Accordingly, the activities of the Automotive Division comprise the development of vehicles and engines, the production and sale of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses and motorcycles, as well as the genuine parts, large-bore diesel engines, turbomachinery, special gear units, propulsion components and testing systems businesses. The Ducati brand is allocated to the Audi brand and is thus presented in the Passenger Cars reporting segment. The Financial Services Division, which corresponds to the Financial Services segment, combines dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance activities, fleet management and mobility offerings.

In this chapter, we present the key volume and financial data relating to the Group brands and to Volkswagen Financial Services. In light of the ongoing positive development of our business in China and the continuing growth in the importance of the Chinese market, we also report on business developments and the results of our activities in China in this chapter.

The production figures and deliveries to customers are presented by product line. Unit sales figures refer to models sold by the various brand companies, including vehicles of other Group brands. In some cases, there are marked differences between delivery figures and unit sales as a result of the positive growth of our business in China.

In addition, we explain unit sales and sales revenue in our Europe/Other markets, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific markets.

KEY FIGURES BY MARKET

The Volkswagen Group can look back on a very successful 2014. Challenges came from the continuing difficult market situation and fierce competition. Unit sales passed the ten-million mark for the first time, increasing by 5.0 % to 10.2 million vehicles, while sales revenue rose by 2.8 % year-on-year to €202.5 billion.

In the Europe/Other markets region, the Group’s unit sales amounted to 4.4 million vehicles, a 5.2 % increase on the figure for 2013. Sales revenue was up 5.0 % to €122.9 billion due to volume-related factors.

The Group’s unit sales in North America decreased by 2.4 % to 0.9 million vehicles. By contrast, sales revenue was up 0.7 % to €27.6 billion. Mix effects were positive, while deteriorations in exchange rates and decreased volumes had a negative impact.

In the highly competitive South American region, unit sales declined by 19.6 % to 0.8 million vehicles in the reporting period. The lower sales figures and negative exchange rate effects saw sales revenue drop by 20.7 % to €13.9 billion.

The Volkswagen Group’s models were particularly popular in the Asia-Pacific markets. Including the Chinese joint ventures, 4.1 million vehicles were sold in the reporting period, a growth rate of 13.3 %. Sales revenue amounted to €38.1 billion, with the 8.8 % year-on-year growth attributable to higher volumes. These figures do not include the sales revenue generated by our Chinese joint ventures, since these are accounted for using the equity method.