To say Volkswagen Group had a great 2023 would be an understatement. With 9.24 million cars delivered by its many brands, shipments grew by 12 percent over the previous year. But it's not just because demand was stronger; VW had a massive backlog of orders caused by supply bottlenecks surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But with most of the logistical issues solved, the automotive conglomerate was able to pump out a lot more cars. Deliveries grew in all the VW Group's most important markets, and Western Europe was the largest region, with 3.27 million vehicles (+21 percent YoY). China was right behind with 3.24 million cars (+2 percent), followed by North America with 0.99 million units (+18 percent).
| 2022 Sales | 2023 Sales | Percent Increase | |
| Volkswagen Group | 8.26 Million | 9.24 Million | + 12 Percent |
2024 Volkswagen T-Cross facelift
Full sales figures for each brand will be published on Friday, but we already know the past 12 months have been excellent for the core VW brand. Shipments were up by 6.7 percent to about 4.87 million vehicles, so if the math is accurate, approximately 52.63 percent of all cars delivered by the Group in 2023 had the VW badge.
Of all the cars the main VW brand sold in 2023, over half of them were SUVs. The market share of sport utility vehicles blossomed to 54.2 percent, or 14.9 percent more than in 2022. SUVs were even more popular in the United States where they accounted for over 81 percent of all deliveries. In Europe, the subcompact T-Cross was the best-selling SUV after setting records in Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, and Spain.
But is that enough to beat Toyota? Before the Japanese giant releases full sales results for 2023, we’ll remind you the company sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022 when it defended its title for the best-selling automaker for a third year in a row.
