2021 (Full Year) Global: Volkswagen Brand Worldwide Car Sales by Model and Country

In 2021, Volkswagen brand worldwide sales fell below 5 million cars with China the most important market and the VW ID.4 the top electric car model.

In 2021, Volkswagen brand worldwide sales fell below 5 million cars with China the most important market and the VW ID.4 the top electric car model.
© Volkswagen AG

In full-year 2021, Volkswagen brand global deliveries contracted by 8.1% to 4,896,900 cars. China remained by far the most important market for VW despite a 15% decline in sales. The proportion of electrified vehicles delivered worldwide increased to 369,000 cars, or 7.5% of all Volkswagens sold in 2021. The VW ID.4 was the top-selling battery-electric Volkswagen car model in 2021. Volkswagen claims a backlog of over 500,000 cars in Europe due to the shortage of semiconductors.

Volkswagen Sales by Largest Global Markets and Countries

In 2021, Volkswagen brand car sales in the most important global markets and largest countries were as follows:

VW Car Sales20202021Change
in %
Western Europe1,146,4001,086,100-5.3%
Central and Eastern Europe222,300206,300-7.2%
North America468,400529,100+13.0%
South America392,300381,000-2.9%
China incl. HK2,851,1002,428,100-14.8%
Rest of Asia-Pacific120,500127,800+6.0%
Middle East/Africa127,100138,500+8.9%
Worldwide5,328,1004,896,900-8.1%

VW Worldwide Sales in 2021

In 2021, Volkswagen delivered 4,896,900 vehicles across all drive systems to customers around the world — 8.1% fewer than in 2020.

The lagging supply of semiconductors caused limitations in production throughout the course of the year, which ultimately had a major impact on the unit sales figures. “The massive effects on production brought on by the semiconductor situation could not be entirely compensated for over the course of the year, however. Nonetheless, our record-breaking order backlog of 543,000 vehicles in Europe alone – thereof 95,000 IDs – shows clearly that the demand for Volkswagen vehicles continues to be very high,” said Klaus Zellmer, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen.

In China, by far the most important single-country market for Volkswagen, sales were down by 15% or more than 400,000 cars. VW electric cars seemed to struggle compared to domestic Chinese brands.

In the USA, VW sales increased while in Germany, Volkswagen gained market share despite lower sales. The VW Golf was again the top-selling car model in Germany and VW the largest electric car brand.

Volkswagen ID Electric Car Sales in 2021

The proportion of purely battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid vehicles nearly doubled to 7.5 percent of total VW deliveries (2020: 4 percent). In Europa, these vehicles now account for 19.3 percent of Volkswagen’s deliveries (2020: 12.6 percent). Volkswagen recorded a significant increase in deliveries of electric vehicles particularly in the United States, China, and Germany. In Germany, one in four Volkswagen vehicles was a plug-in vehicle.

A total of 77,100 BEVs (+437 percent) were delivered in China, including more than 70,000 from the ID. family, making Volkswagen one of the five biggest BEV providers in China. A further considerable increase is planned for 2022. Close to 17,000 BEVs were sold in the United States, almost twenty times more than in the previous year. This brought Volkswagen up to fourth place among BEV manufacturers.

Volkswagen’s most popular BEV model worldwide in 2021 was the ID.4. The ID.4 was the most frequently delivered of the 263,000 BEVs with 119,650 units sold, followed by the ID.3 (around 76,000), the e-up! (approximately 41,500) and just under 18,000 units of the ID.6, which Volkswagen offers exclusively in the Chinese market.

In Europe, the ID.4 topped the BEV charts in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Ireland. The all-electric SUV ID.4 was also successfully rolled out in the United States with nearly 17,000 units being handed over to customers. In China, the vehicle already ranks second among all-electric SUVs.

SUVs remained the fastest-growing market segment in 2021. SUVs now make up more than 40 percent of all VW vehicle deliveries (previous year: 34.8 percent). Volkswagen generated as much as three-quarters of its sales revenue in the United States with SUVs, selling its highest number of vehicles there since 2013. Nevertheless, the Golf held on to its top position as the best-selling car in Germany in 2021 despite the strained supply situation for semiconductors.

Global Worldwide Car Sales by Brand in 2021 (Full Year)

Global worldwide sales by brand in 2021:

“Sales” as reported by the various brands generally refer to deliveries and not necessarily sales to the customer or final registration. Terms and definitions may vary.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.