Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen has sold fewer of its own-brand cars this year after its emissions cheat scandal.
But while global sales are down, rising demand in China helped soften the blow.
Volkswagen said in a statement that combined sales of all of its 12 different brands edged up by 0.8% in the first three months of this year.
Solid sales in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region offsetting falling sales in North and South America.
Volkswagen sold 2.5 million vehicles worldwide in the period from January to March, up from 2.48 million a year earlier.
Volkswagen New Zealand had sold 1302 vehicles (passenger and commercial) in the first three months.
Last year, it achieved a grand total of 5045 sales across the same two categories, bringing it as the number eight brand, capturing 4% of the market.
In January (463) and February (411) this year, it has maintained the number eight spot with the same 4%. In March (428) it had slipped to tenth in the automotive batting order, but retained the 4% slice.
Later this year it will launch the first diesel powered Volkswagen onto the New Zealand market since the scandal fired up.
The 40th Anniversary limited edition VW Golf GTI will also go on sale in the coming months, bundling a selection of exclusive features for a slightly upgraded price.
China sales boost
Chinese sales grew by 6.4% in the first quartered. European sales were up 3.3% and Asia-Pacific sales rose by 4.3% while sales in North America were down 2.1% and sales in South America dropped by as much as 27.6%.
VW, which aside from its own brand also owns marques such as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Skoda and SEAT, was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis in September when it emerged it had used emissions-cheating software into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.
It is currently battling the uncertainty of ever-rising costs from the scandal and is already facing many billions of dollars in fines and compensation claims.
Sales of its own VW-brand vehicles suffered the most, falling by 1.3% in the January-March period to 1.45 million from 1.47 million a year earlier.
“Mixed regional market developments are reflected in our delivery figures,” notes Juergen Stackmann, head of sales at the VW brand.
“While Volkswagen passenger cars recorded the best delivery performance ever in China in the first quarter, the trend in South America in particular continues to decline,” Stackmann adds.
In its German home marked, VW delivered a total 138,700 of its own-brand cars to customers in the January-March period, 3.8% fewer than a year earlier.
“Own-brand sales were down in almost all regions in the first quarter of 2016, particularly in North and South America,” the carmaker notes.
