Volkswagen Group brands reveal pandemic impact on 2020 sales

Bentley attributes the growth to a "comprehensive" redesign of its production line in light of the pandemic, which allowed it to continue operating in accordance with social-distancing protocols. A swift market recovery in China played an important part in the sales increase, as did strong demand for the facelifted Bentayga and new Flying Spur saloon.

Cupra and Seat 

Strong growth for the Cupra performance brand wasn't enough to offset significant losses for Seat, with the Spanish brand's overall sales down 25.6% in 2020. 

After selling 574,078 units in 2020 for its best year on record, the firm delivered 427,000 in 2020, with company president Wayne Griffiths attributing the drop to "the paralysis caused by Covid-19 in the spring". 

More than a quarter (109,500) of Seat and Cupra sales were in Germany, while 73,300 were in their native Spain - where Seat topped the sales charts for the third year running - and 45,600 in the UK.

The brand saw dramatic sales drops in each of these markets but nearly doubled its sales in Turkey and achieved a new sales record in Israel, which helped to mitigate the overall impact.

In its second full year on the market as a standalone brand, Cupra recorded an 11% sales boost, with its second model, the Leon hot hatch, selling 13,300 units compared with the Ateca SUV's 10,500. The new Formentor crossover, launched in the final quarter, has already sold 3600 units. 

The brand expects a recovery in 2021, but Griffiths cautioned: "We expect the first quarter to be complicated, because of restrictions in the supply of components due to the effects of the pandemic." 

New electrified models including the Seat Leon eHybrid and Seat Tarraco PHEV, as well as the Formentor, will be "key" to future growth, Griffiths said. 

Porsche

Porsche sales were down a relatively low 3% compared to 2019, when the performance brand recorded its strongest sales on record. 

Like other Volkswagen Group brands, Porsche was forced to pause production for six weeks as the pandemic took hold, but strong demand for the new Taycan electric saloon helped to minimise the impact. 

A total of 20,015 Taycans were delivered throughout the year, nearly equalling the successful 718 Boxster/Cayman sports car, which sold 21,784 units. It was the Cayenne SUV that topped the sales charts, however, with 92,860 units sold, while the 911 accounted for 34,328 sales. 

Porsche sold 272,162 units worldwide, with a 4% sales boost across the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East regions helping to offset slumps in Europe and the US. 

Skoda

Skoda recorded a 19.1% global sales drop in 2020 but still sold more than 1,000,000 cars for the seventh year in a row.

A total of 1,004,800 Skoda models were delivered during the year, despite a 39-day shutdown of the brand's Czech production facilities during the first wave of the pandemic. 

Skoda sales were most profoundly impacted in China, its biggest global market, dropping 38.7% to 173,000 units. Despite the drop, Skoda still sold just over 11,000 more vehicles there than in Germany, its second-biggest market. 

Like Seat, Skoda recorded strong growth in Turkey (56.3%), plus it gained in Egypt and Russia, but a 16.5% drop across Western Europe to 434,500 sales - and similar declines in Central and Eastern Europe - had a significant impact on the global figures.

The Octavia family car was by far the biggest global seller, selling 257,400 units (a 29.2% year-on-year drop), compared with the second-best-selling Karoq SUV's 137,200 units (a 10.1% drop). 

Skoda CEO Thomas Schäfer said: "Delivering over one million vehicles worldwide is a great success for Skoda Auto, especially against the backdrop of the corona pandemic and the resulting five-week production shutdown during the first wave in spring.

"I would like to thank the sales team, importers and dealers for this joint effort. An equally big thank you to our colleagues from production, quality management and all other Skodians who fought for every Skoda.

"The entire team has shown stamina, resilience and real passion in these challenging times. We can now look ahead with confidence: Skoda has many new products in the pipeline, and I have high expectations for them. Nevertheless, we remain vigilant, and we're keeping a close eye on further developments in the markets.”