Volkswagen vehicle deliveries drop 14.3% in third quarter

Volkswagen Group delivered 1.89 million vehicles worldwide in the third quarter of 2026, a decline of 14.3% compared to the same period last year. The result marks the automaker's steepest quarterly contraction in more than four years, following a 22.4% drop in the second quarter of 2022.

For the first nine months of 2026, global deliveries fell 9.0% to 6.01 million vehicles, down from 6.60 million vehicles a year earlier. Total deliveries across Europe reached 2,956,000 vehicles during the nine months, with deliveries in Germany edging up 0.9%.

Deteriorating volumes in China drove the quarterly downturn. Third-quarter deliveries in China plunged 38.5% to 405,800 vehicles, bringing nine-month deliveries in the country to 1.38 million vehicles, down 30.2%. Elsewhere in the third quarter, deliveries fell 5.8% in North America and 2.8% in Western Europe, while Central and Eastern Europe rose 1.4%.

Global battery-electric vehicle deliveries declined 4.7% in the third quarter to 240,200 units, even as European electric deliveries rose 20% and electrified deliveries in China rose 30%. Through September, worldwide battery-electric deliveries reached 678,700 vehicles compared with 717,700 a year earlier. Worldwide plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric deliveries rose 23% to 368,000 units.

The group's commercial vehicle arm, TRATON GROUP, increased third-quarter unit sales by 10% to 78,900 vehicles, supported by a 48% jump at its International Motors brand to 19,900 units. TRATON unit sales rose 3% across the first nine months to 230,400 vehicles.