The numbers don’t lie.
Volkswagen Group is struggling. Again. Sales dropped 8.6 percent in the second quarter, bringing the year-to-year decline to 6.3 percent. A broad collapse in China swallowed any wins in the West whole.
“The situation in China remains challenging”
That was Marcos Schubert. Member of the executive committee. He put it politely. The reality is starker. Sales in the Asian giant fell 36.6 percent between April and June. Year-over-year, it’s a 25.9 drop.
Local electric vehicles didn’t save them. The overall market shrunk by about 20 percent anyway.
But it isn’t just China.
Middle East. Africa. Most of Asia-Pacific. All down.
Where it went right
Latin America surged.
Nine point four percent growth last quarter. Eight point three for the year. That helps, but barely.
Europe is doing okay, too. Central and Eastern Europe saw big gains, up 6.7 percent in Q2 and 7.2 for the half-year. Western Europe was quieter—up just 1.8 percent for the quarter—but still positive overall.
The American mixed bag
North America finally woke up after a slow start. Q2 sales jumped 7.7 percent. The yearly number is still down 3.1, though. VW blames tariffs. Regulatory headaches too.
Inside the U.S., the main brand crushed it.
Sales up nearly 25 percent in three months. Nearly 90,00 cars moved. The Tiguan led the charge with a mind-bending 152.5 jump.
Golf GTI up. Golf R up. Even the quirky ID. Buzz sales more than doubled—from 564 units to 1,249 in that span.
First six months of 2025 showed 162,911 deliveries. About 3,000 better than 2024.
Yet luxury is bleeding.
Porsche sold 3,000 few cars than last year’s quarter. Everything fell except the 911. It rose 39 percent.
Audi dipped.
Three point zero percent drop April to June. While some models like the A6 or Q5 climbed, the brand as a whole is down 17 percent for the year.
The purge
So what now?
Volkswagen announced a massive cleanup.
Cut the portfolio in half. Half the cars. Seventy-five fewer options for what remains.
“Focus on products and technologies that deliver… greatest added value”
That means cutting production capacity. From 12 million down to 9 million units a year. They built for more just a few years ago.
It’s brutal.
Rumors swirl. Four plant closures? One hundred thousand job cuts? Maybe.
These drastic moves might not be enough.
Tariffs bite. Regulations shift. Competition gets fiercer every month. VW and everyone else are just scrambling to find what people actually want to buy.
What happens next is anybody’s guess.
