Volkswagen's Global Sales Dip Slightly in 2025, Dragged Down by 8% Drop in China

In 2025, Volkswagen Group reported global sales of 8.984 million vehicles, a slight year-over-year decline of 0.5%. Despite growth in most overseas markets, declining sales in China and North America weighed on overall performance. Sales in China fell by 8% year-over-year to 2.694 million units, continuing a steady downward trend since the peak of 4.23 million units in 2019—a cumulative drop of over 1.5 million vehicles over six years. Meanwhile, Chinese domestic brands such as BYD and Geely, leveraging their strengths in new energy vehicles, have surpassed Volkswagen’s sales performance in China one after another. As one of the earliest foreign automakers to enter China, Volkswagen once dominated the market for an extended period. However, in recent years, its market share has been steadily eroded by the rise of local brands, and weakness in the Chinese market has become a key factor affecting the group's global sales.