L-R, Volkswagen Caddy, Amarok, Transporter & Crafter

Volkswagen proudly announced today that total sales in its commercial vehicle division were up by 3.5% for the year to date, but a quick look at the figures suggests that much of this is the result of the impact of its new Amarok pick-up model — a segment in which VW previously had no models.

VW delivered 220,500 in the first five months of this year, 3.5% more than in the same period of 2011. Amarok deliveries worldwide rose by 31.7 per cent to 30,500 vehicles (January – May 2011: 23,100). Deliveries of the Crafter large van went up by 37.0 per cent to 19,800 vehicles (January – May 2011: 14,400). The T5 Series medium van rose by 0.4 per cent to 66,300 deliveries (January – May 2011: 66,100), while worldwide deliveries of the Caddy small van went down by 3.1 per cent to 63,200 vehicles (January – May 2011: 65,200).

Deliveries of the Brand in Western Europe from January to May 2012 were up by 1.3 per cent, to 117,900 vehicles (January – May 2011: 116,400), while in Eastern Europe deliveries rose by a whopping 32.7% — but from a much lower base of just 13,100, taking this year’s total to 17,400.

Unsurprisingly, Germany was the strongest European market for the brand, with deliveries up by 5.3 per cent to 50,800  (January – May 2011: 48,200).

Interestingly, sales outside Europe are flagging. The strongest region outside Europe was Latin America, where deliveries fell by 2.3% from 57,000 last year to 55,700 in the first five months of this year. Deliveries of the Saveiro model (a small pick-up not sold in Europe) were down by 10.3 per cent to 30,400 units (January – May 2011: 33,800), while the T2 (an antiquated predecessor to the T5 that’s still made in South America) was up by 0.4 per cent to 10,400 deliveries (January – May 2011: 10,350).