Volkswagen forecasts rocky year ahead

Volkswagen has warned markets and investors that the global chip shortage will continue to impact on sales in 2023, but the European auto giant expects supplies to recover .

Following the announcement of its 2022 sales results that saw total volume drop to 4.56 million – down 6.8 per cent on the year before – Volkswagen said 2023 would remain a “volatile and challenging year” for car sales.

The good news is that order books in Europe are already 18 per cent up over this time last year, which is the equivalent of 640,000 cars, with VW already working on how to improve delivery times.

“We are working intensively to further reduce delivery times for customers and to work off the high order backlog as quickly as possible,” said Volkswagen’s chief sales officer Imelda Labbe.

Other positive news from its 2022 performance were sales of its all-electric vehicles that were up 23.6 per cent to around 330,000 units, while sales in China where VW has historically struggled doubled to 143,100.

Its top-selling EV was the Volkswagen ID.4, which racked up 170,000 units last year – and will finally reach Australian showrooms in 2023.

SUV sales, which were up four per cent in 2022, remain the fastest-growing market and now represent 80 per cent of all Volkswagen sales in the United States.

In Australia last year, Volkswagen sales dropped 24.1 per cent to just 30,946 units, with widespread supply shortages and the model changeover to the incoming new Volkswagen Amarok ute denting the brand’s volume.