“There was a further very significant deterioration in the situation for the automotive industry all over the world in October. Our Group continued to gain market share in this difficult environment, even though deliveries in October were down on the same month last year. Our target of selling more vehicles in 2008 than in 2007 remains valid,” Detlef Wittig, Executive Vice President Group Sales and Marketing, said.

The Group continued its expansion on growth markets, although the momentum in these markets has also decelerated. The Group once again reported pleasing growth in Brazil from January to October, with deliveries totaling 550,700 vehicles (+16.7 per cent). In China, too, the Group recorded a noticeable rise in deliveries from January to October, with 853,800  vehicles representing a marked increase of 12.6 per cent. The Group’s percentage growth in Russia, where deliveries rose by 64.4 per cent to 107,900 vehicles, was even higher. In India, the Group delivered 16,700 vehicles (+66.0 per cent) from January to October, again representing strong growth.

Against the backdrop of a continuing deterioration in the overall market, the Group delivered 3.0 million vehicles (-0.4  per cent) in Europe during the first ten months of this year, of which 881,500 (+1.8 per cent) were delivered in Germany and 1.65 million (-5.6 percent) in Western Europe (excluding Germany).

Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the Group’s highest-volume brand, delivered 3.1 million vehicles to customers worldwide (+2.1 per cent) between January and October 2008, of which 439,600 (+3.2 per cent) were delivered in Germany.