VW: The limits to growth

VW: The limits to growth

The Austrian passenger car market continues to benefit from the continuous reduction of the backlog of orders. With 182,886 newly registered vehicles, this is 12.1% above the comparable period of the previous year, but almost 30% below the pre-crisis level in 2019. This year, after the first nine months, the Volkswagen Group brands achieved a market share of an impressive 40.3% with a total of 73,605 vehicles. Volkswagen and Škoda lead the brand ranking, six company representatives are in the top 10 of the model hit parade, which is led by the Škoda Octavia. New electric registrations are also still benefiting greatly from the reduction in order backlogs (+44.8%); the Group brands are stable at 31.7% of the electric market share.

"The recovery of the Austrian car market is taking place more slowly than necessary for the industry. The toxic economic situation is unfortunately reflected 1:1 on the car market," says Hans Peter Schützinger, spokesman for the management of Porsche Holding Salzburg. In September 2023, the number of 19,840 new registrations on the overall market will be below the comparable month of 2022 for the first time, specifically by -4.3%. "In addition, the current economic weakness does not stop at e-mobility. That's why it is all the more important that we get clarity about the BEV funding model for 2024 as soon as possible," said Schützinger, and continued: "With the minus in September, we have experienced a flattening of new registration numbers for the first time this year in a market driven by the reduction in orders on hand. This is for the car year 2023 The assumed growth to 250,000 vehicles is now difficult to achieve.” The fact is: consumers' reluctance to buy is already clearly noticeable. The industry is therefore trying to counteract the difficult sales situation with incentives and increasing discounts - according to Schützinger, a dangerous economic development that has a direct impact on retail results, especially given the consistently low volumes.

In the brand ranking, four representatives of the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen (1st), Škoda (2nd), Audi (4th) and SEAT (5th), once again placed in the top 5. The popularity of the group brands is also reflected in the model hit parade: with the Octavia (1st), VW Golf (3rd), VW Tiguan (5th), Seat Ateca (8th), VW Caddy (9th) and Škoda Enyaq (10th) there are six again Models represented in the top 10. The Volkswagen Group brands were also able to consolidate their good market position in the E segment with 11,062 new registrations, accounting for 31.7% of the E market share - almost every third new BEV registration bears the logo of a Volkswagen Group brand. In the brand ranking, VW, Audi, Škoda and CUPRA take third, fourth, fifth and sixth place. In the model ranking, four models are still placed in the top 5: the Škoda Enyaq iV (2nd), CUPRA Born (3rd), VW ID.4 (4th) and Audi Q4 e-tron (5th). "The current economic weakness will not stop at e-mobility. When the existing order backlogs in the BEV segment are reduced, we will also see a slowdown here due to the weak sales situation," predicts Schützinger.