(Alliance News) - Volkswagen AG saw total sales across its brands fall in March compared to the same month last year, the auto giant announced on Wednesday.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker said the drop was particularly pronounced in electric vehicles.

Total worldwide sales in March across Volkswagen's brands fell by 1.4% to 800,600 from 812,100 in March 2023, the company announced on Wednesday. Sales declined in the key markets of Europe and China, among others.

Sales rose, however, in North America, and sales for the core Volkswagen and SEAT brands grew. Sales for higher-priced luxury carmakers Audi and Porsche declined.

In the first quarter as a whole, the Volkswagen Group delivered 2.1 million vehicles, 2.9% more than the 2.0 million it delivered in the previous year.

The main growth drivers were China as well as South and North America. In Western Europe, including in Volkswagen's home market of Germany, sales fell by 0.7% to 790,100 vehicles.

Sales of combustion engine powered vehicles rose by around 4% to 1.97 million in the first three months of 2024, more than offsetting the decline in sales of all-electric models, which dropped by 3.3% to 136,400 vehicles.

Deliveries of electric vehicles fell particularly sharply in Europe, down 24% to 74,400, pushing overall electric vehicles sales for the company downward despite strong sales growth for the segment in China.

However, incoming orders in Western Europe moved upward from January to March, Volkswagen reported, with more than twice as many all-electric models ordered as in the same period last year.

That brings Volkswagen's order backlog for electric vehicles to around 160,000 as of Wednesday.

Volkswagen shares rose 1.3% to EUR149.50 on Wednesday afternoon in Frankfurt.

source: dpa