Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VW) has announced a considerable upturn in deliveries during the first quarter of 2014.

The company has benefited from increased demand for its models across Europe over recent months and this has served to give a considerable boost to the manufacturer’s sales performance in an economic climate that remains somewhat downbeat.

Overall, the firm reported a total of 76,200 light commercial vehicle deliveries during the three-month period – up from 70,200 during the same quarter last year.

Performance in VW’s home market of Germany grew by 5.2 per cent annually, with 66,900 vehicles sold, while one of the best performing markets for the company remained the UK. Indeed, the manufacturer’s sales in this area rose by more than one-fifth (22 per cent) in Q1 2014 to 11,500 models.

This growth in demand was attributed to the firm’s launch of its new T5 and Caddy models, which appear to have captured the imagination of buyers right across the continent.

Bram Schot, board member for sales and marketing at VW, commented: “The customers’ increased demand in particular confirms the T5 model series and the Caddy as popular light commercial vehicles in Europe.”

Globally, the marque has witnessed a slight stagnation in deliveries during the last year, with a total of 120,900 vehicles sold in Q1 – this compares to 123,700 units sold in the same period of 2013 and is down by 2.3 per cent.

Deliveries in South American have been particularly badly hit over the 12 months, with a 26.7 per cent reduction in sales from Q1 2013 to Q1 this year.

However, the company remains confident it is continuing to benefit from its expanding range of model offerings and takes solace in the fact it continues to out-perform the market average for businesses operating in the commercial vehicle sector.

Would your company benefit from a dedicated fuel card account manager and market leading online fleet management?

Clare Lafferty of The Fuelcard People is just one of our team of fuel card account managers – no call centre, every customer has their dedicated manager. As a customer of The Fuelcard People you will have access to our market leading eServices account management system.

The Shell fuel card is just one of the widest range of products available from any UK supplier, that comes with dedicated account management and eServices, 24/7 fuel card account management.

Posted by Clare Lafferty, Account Manager, The Fuelcard People.