Volkswagen vehicle deliveries fell 1.4 percent year-on-year in 2024, the German carmaker said on Thursday, dragged down by fierce competition in China. In China, VW's most important market, sales plunged by 8.

The Volkswagen brand's global deliveries fell 1.4% to 4.8 million vehicles in 2024, with battery-electric sales down around 2.5%, Europe's top carmaker said on Thursday.

An “elimination round” is likely to cull weaker players in a market dominated by EVs and plug-in hybrids. Among the early losers are foreign brands.

This year has been troubling for almost all foreign carmakers in that country, which boasts the world’s largest car market.

China's Xpeng Motors and Volkswagen have agreed to expand their partnership to cooperate on ultra-fast electric vehicle charging networks in China, the automakers said on Monday.

XPeng and Volkswagen will work together to build a network of more than 20,000 charging units to be installed in 420 cities.

Volkswagen Group China and XPeng have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish one of China's “largest super-fast” charging networks. This collaboration will leverage the technological expertise of both companies to provide an extensive charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) across China.

MERCEDES-Benz Group car sales dipped last year as the German luxury-auto maker struggled with weak demand for pricey models in China and electric vehicles in Europe. Read more at The Business Times.

Sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids, known collectively as new energy vehicles (NEVs), rose 40.7% to make up 47.2% of total car sales last year, closing in on a 50% milestone, buoyed by a programme likened to the 2009 US "cash-for-clunkers" stimulus.

With car exports up 25% to 4.8 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data, China probably ranked as the world's largest auto exporter ahead of Japan for a second consecutive year in 2024 despite additional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles the European Union introduced in late October.

Volkswagen saw sales drop in China and Europe, but they were practically offset by significant gains in North and South America