Volkswagen had a tough year in 2020, as sales were down with some important numbers. Not only did the passenger car division lost some sales, but also the commercial one. In total, Volkswagen Commercial delivered 371,700 vehicles to customers in 2020, 24.4 per cent down on the previous year.
Across the course of the year the trend ran in parallel with the course of the coronavirus pandemic: the first quarter was only slightly down on 2019, but was then followed by significant falls in the second quarter during the first lockdown, with plant closures at VWCV and production stopped for several weeks. Over the summer, units shipped rose again appreciably, culminating in a year-on-year increase of 13.3% in September, the only month of the year to finish ahead of the corresponding month in 2019. In the final months of the year, it was not possible to continue this positive trend – reflecting the increasing infection numbers and renewed business restrictions.
In 2020, VWCV unveiled the new Caddy, which by the year-end was already in initial dealerships in Germany and selected European countries. The first few trade magazine road tests certify that its handling and safety features make the new Caddy the benchmark in its segment. In the middle of 2020, production of the Amarok at the Hannover plant came to an end. The new version of the Volkswagen pick-up, based then on the agreed cooperation with Ford, will make its world premiere in 2022.
Some vehicles, including VWCV’s California models, benefited during the coronavirus pandemic from the trend towards camping holidays. Orders received for the models based either on the T-series or Crafter, increased in total to 27,400, a year-on-year rise of 60.8 per cent. With a total of 1,100 e-Crafter units shipped, the share of fully electric vehicles at VWCV grew further to 2,700 vehicles (+167.4%). With the new Multivan VWCV will be presenting the latest generation of T-models with plugin hybrid drive system in 2021 while the fully electric ID.BUZZ, the electrified reinterpretation of the legendary Bulli icon will follow in 2022.
