Volkswagen Group deliveries in China slumped during the first half of 2026, as local electric vehicle (EV) brands further reduced buyers’ interest in petrol cars in a slowing market. Through its three ventures with Chinese partners, the German car brand sold a total of 971,000 units to customers in China between January and June, down 26.1% year-on-year, it said in a statement. The delivery volume hit the lowest level since the first half of 2010 when it sold 950,300 vehicles in mainland China. “The situation in China remains challenging, where we were unable to escape a significant total market decline of around 20%,” said Marco Schubert, Member of Volkswagen’s extended Executive Committee for sales. He added that an 8% growth in South America and a 3% rise in western Europe only partially offset the significant decline in China, with global deliveries falling 6% from a year earlier to 4.13 million units.
Overall sales of passenger cars in mainland China plunged 20.2% year-on-year to 8.7 million units in the first six months of 2026, according the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). VW’s sales drop in China showed that international carmakers would take time to fight back against Chinese rivals due to their slow transition to electrification. Deliveries of EVs, comprising pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, jumped 14% year-on-year to 4.7 million units during the first half, accounting for 54% of the country’s total, CPCA said. VW China dominated the Chinese car market between 1984 – when it established a joint venture in Shanghai – and 2023.
The company did not disclose its first half EV sales. VW China said in another statement that it was well prepared for the increased demand for EVs on the mainland and was planning to launch more than 20 EV models to attract local Chinese consumers this year, the South China Morning Post reports.
