Volkswagen Group (VWAGY) posted its lowest sales figures in 10 years in 2021 at 8.9 million deliveries, the automaker has reported.
Volkswagen added that it expects global supply chain conditions to remain volatile in the first half of this year.
Overall, the Volkswagen brand saw an 8.1% drop in sales to just under 4.9 million units last year, with the biggest fall in China at 14.8%, although battery-electric vehicle sales in the country quadrupled.
By contrast, luxury carmaker BMW (BAMXF) saw record deliveries of 2.21 million vehicles as it managed to adapt to supply chain shortages.
BMW rival Daimler (DDAIF) reported on January 7 that Mercedes-Benz sales dropped 5% in 2021, losing its crown to BMW for the first time in five years as the premium carmaker with most vehicles sold worldwide.
Performance for the premium carmakers was weakest in Europe, with the BMW and Mini brands registering just 3.9% growth and Mercedes-Benz an 11.2% drop.
North America was a strong market for all three carmakers. Mercedes-Benz registered 0.4% growth in the U.S. and BMW 19.5%. Volkswagen saw 13% growth in America.
Sales of hybrid or fully electric vehicles rose across the industry, particularly in Europe, where they constituted between a fifth and a quarter of all deliveries - but remained a small proportion of total global sales.
At the Volkswagen Group, for example, battery-electric vehicles comprised 5.1% of deliveries - double last year's figure, but a fraction of the carmaker's 2030 target of 50%.
