Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles report strong first quarter

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Ireland (VCVI) has reported a strong start to 2018 with a sales increase of 13.5 per cent to over 2,500 vehicles. And it claims the biggest market share development in the first quarter of the 2018 Irish commercial vehicle market. It sits firmly in second place with 20.33 per cent market share, behind Ford with 25.33 per cent.

The all new Crafter saw deliveries increase by 53 per cent with 238 units in the first three months of this year compared to 156 for the similar period in 2017. In the first quarter of this year, the big Transit leads the market with 602 units registered. The Renault Master comes next with 471 units, followed by the new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with 354 units.

The Transporter also saw a large increase in deliveries by 34 per cent (700 units registered) vs. 2017 (522 for a similar period). It is in second place behind the biggest selling van in the country, the Ford Transit Custom. Compared to a similar period last year, the Transporter has slipped ahead of the Renault Traffic.

The Amarok V6 Pick Up saw a 46 per cent increase in volume from 52 compared to 76 units registered in the first three months of this year. It has made up some ground on the segment leaders, the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara.

The versatile Caddy van has just surrendered the Number 1 position as the best-seller in that segment and overall. Following on from its huge success in the first quarter of 2017 (955 registrations) as Ireland’s best selling van, it has dropped to third behind the segment leader, the Ford Transit Connect van and the current top selling van in the first quarter, the Ford Transit Custom.

A big seller for Volkswagen this first quarter has been the Touareg Commercial with 365 units registered in the first three months, up over 64 per cent on a similar period last year. Unfortunately, the new Touareg will not be available in this SUV format, so this will be a loss to VCVI registration numbers going forward.

However, on a positive note, VCVI says that it offers brands innovative finance products such as 0 per cent HP, PCP and Customer Lease have also seen a huge increase with 52 per cent more customers availing of these solutions so far in 2018 when compared to 2017. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has also seen an increase of 5 million euro in funds advanced, resulting in excess of 15 million euro in Quarter 1.

Alan Bateson, Managing Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Ireland told us: “Looking forward to Quarter 2 we have brilliant sales offers in the market. With 0 per cent APR HP finance, Ireland’s only commercial vehicle PCP solution and our new customer lease product provided by Volkswagen Financial services, we feel we can tailor the perfect solution for Irish customers and continue to extend the strong start we have had to the remainder of 2018.”

Light Commercial Registrations