(Bloomberg) —
Volkswagen AG sales dropped to the lowest in a decade last year after the global semiconductor shortage hampered the German manufacturer’s auto output.
Group deliveries fell 4.5% to 8.88 million vehicles — the fewest since 2011 — after the components shortage battered production despite robust orders, Volkswagen said Wednesday. The company is worse off than many of its peers including BMW AG, which took the luxury-sales crown from Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz after better navigating the bottlenecks.
Automakers from Volkswagen to Stellantis NV are hoping the supply-chain snarls will gradually ease this year but have warned chip supply will remain tight in the first half. Mercedes said last week it will keep in place a task force to help ease any bottlenecks that risk disrupting production.
READ MORE: BMW Outsells Mercedes for First Luxury-Sales Crown Since 2015
Volkswagen’s weak sales in Europe and Asia overshadowed growth in North America, where deliveries jumped 16% after demand roared back from the initial onslaught of the pandemic. Sales in China, Volkswagen’s largest market, dropped 14%.
Battery-powered cars were a rare bright spot. Volkswagen’s electric-vehicle deliveries nearly doubled to 452,900 units, with the company saying it’s the market leader in Europe and the No. 2 in the U.S.
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