VW lost ground in China, new electric models are supposed to fix it. Image: Volkswagen AG
VW Group and Mercedes-Benz sold fewer cars last year due to setbacks in sales in China and the United States. New electric models are supposed to bring about a turning point.
Jan 13, 2026, 3:14 p.mJan 13, 2026, 3:14 p.m
Volkswagen and Mercedes presented their sales figures for 2025 on Monday, BMW last week. How are things really going for German car manufacturers? An overview.
In 2025, the VW Group delivered 8.98 million vehicles of all group brands to its customers worldwide. That was 0.5 percent less than a year earlier, as the Wolfsburg-based company announced. Almost a million of these were fully electric cars, which grew rapidly. At Mercedes the decline was more significant. The Swabians delivered around 2,160,000 cars and vans to its dealers, ten percent fewer vehicles than in the previous year.
Mercedes competitor BMW had already published its sales figures last week. The Munich-based company recorded a minimal increase of 0.5 percent, as the group announced. BMW sold 2.46 million vehicles to its customers.
VW Group: Problems in the USA and China, but electric cars are doing well
In Europe, Europe’s largest car manufacturer made gains. 3.38 million vehicles from all Group brands were delivered here, 3.8 percent more than in 2024. However, this could not compensate for declines in China and North America. “In particular, the intense competitive situation in China as well as the tariffs and the loss of electric subsidies in the USA have affected our business,” said Audi Sales Director Marco Schubert, who also oversees the department within the entire group.
In China, where the group is struggling with tough price competition from local electric car providers, 2.69 million vehicles were handed over in 2025, 8 percent less than in the previous year. The minus was expected, as the Volkswagen brands VW and Audi will only be attacking again this year with 20 new car models in China – most of them electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
VW ID.ERA 9X: The Germans want to grow again with 20 new car models in China from 2026. picture: vw
So far, VW has tried to sell its electric cars for Europe in China, which failed. Now VW and Audi develop and build Electric cars in China for China. The goal is cost savings and electric cars that are specifically adapted to Chinese needs.
Best-selling car brands in China: Mercedes and BMW in particular are under pressure
In North America, where Europe’s car manufacturers are suffering from President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, the number of VW Group deliveries fell by 10.4 percent to 946,800 vehicles.
VW’s electric car sales are growing quickly
Sales of purely electric cars in particular saw strong growth. 983,100 electric cars from all VW Group brands were delivered worldwide in the year as a whole, almost a third more than in 2024. In Europe it even went up by 66 percent. Almost every ninth new car from the group in 2025 was a battery car.
VW has not yet provided any information about the individual brands. In addition to the core brand Volkswagen, the VW Group also includes Audi, Skoda, Cupra and Porsche.
Mercedes-Benz: Slump in China, new electric cars won’t help until 2026
The Stuttgart-based company divides its sales into cars and vans. Mercedes sold a total of just over 1.8 million cars, which corresponds to a decline of nine percent compared to 2024. Vans recorded a decline of eleven percent to 359,100 vehicles. Almost every tenth car was purely electric.
In China, where Mercedes still delivered almost a third of all cars with 551,900 cars, the decline was particularly significant at 19 percent. The money there isn’t as loose as it used to be. In addition, competition from new domestic companies has increased significantly. In Germany, the Swabians remained at the previous year’s level with 213,200 vehicles.
In the USA, among other things, tariffs had an impact on group sales, the Dax group said. Mercedes sold around 285,000 vehicles there last year, which corresponds to a decline of twelve percent.
Mercedes is launching a new generation of electric cars
The DAX group is hopeful about new electric models. The customer orders for the presented last year electric CLA and GLC were well above expectations, according to the statement. Since the first electric models of the new generation only came onto the market at the end of 2025, they could not save Mercedes’ annual balance sheet.
The new generation of electric cars is based on a newly developed electric platform that enables greater efficiency, longer ranges and faster charging.
This year, among other things, a new version of the S-Class will be presented on this new electric platform.
BMW: Sold more cars despite problems in China
At BMW, the Chinese business also had a significant impact on the figures. The market weakness there led to the Munich-based group publishing a profit warning in the fall. But sales in Europe and the USA, as well as the subsidiary brand Mini, saved BMW from another year of shrinking deliveries.
Specifically, BMW delivered 1.02 million cars in Europe last year, 7.3 percent more than the previous year. In the USA there were 417,638, which means an increase of 5 percent. In China, however, sales fell by 12.5 percent to 625,527 cars.
28 percent more electric cars in Europe
The BMW Group recorded slight growth in fully electric models worldwide with 442,072 vehicles. Fully electric vehicles make up around 18 percent of total sales. In Europe, BMW sold 28.2 percent more electric cars than in the previous year.
BMW is also launching several from this year new electric models on the newly developed electric platform “Neue Klasse”. This new generation of electric cars is intended to significantly accelerate electric vehicle growth.
(sda/awp/dpa/oli)