It looks like Volkswagen has kicked 2022 off with a disappointing start judging by its Q1 report for the North American region. This is not unlike what its more premium subsidiary Audi suffered from during the same period. In total, it was able to sell 64,993 units, which sounds impressive in isolation but compared to the same period last year, it reflects a 28.5% decline.

VW's crossover range remained its strongest seller as it covered a 76% market share of its total result. The Volkswagen Tiguan was the brand's number one champion at 18,233 units sold, reflecting a 33% decline over last year. The Atlas range followed this with a figure of 14,734 units, resulting in a 52% decrease, while the Taos came in at third place with a confirmed sales result of 13,674 units. The Taos was not available in the USA as of the first quarter of 2021, so no comparison is available.

A reduction in sales seems to be the market trend for several brands as the supply chain crisis continues to wreak havoc on vehicle production and stock. Regardless of this, Volkswagen confirms that it was able to maintain a 17th consecutive quarter of a positive conquest/defection ratio, meaning it gained more customers than it lost. The Atlas and Tiguan have been fundamental in achieving this.

VW was only able to increase sales of two of its cars. The all-electric ID.4, soon to be produced locally, benefited from a 481% increase with a final figure of 2,755 units while the Golf R benefited from a comical 77,900% increase having sold 780 units so far in 2022 compared to last year's single unit. Despite this drastic increase, it was the second-lowest performing model.

The Volkswagen Arteon was the biggest loser of the family having sold just 47 units over the last three months, reflecting a 96% deficit. The third lowest selling car of the range was the Golf GTI, bringing in 1,543 unit sales, equating to a 41% decline over the same period in 2021. The Jetta continues to maintain a balanced performance within the fleet but at 10,878 units sold, it too suffers from a drastic decline at 52%.

Volkswagen's total sales may be down but, as per its results for 2021, it revealed that its profits are on the up by a large margin. Globally, the brand delivered 4.9 million cars, 8% less than its performance in 2020, but operating profit, before special items, increased by 451% to $1.105 billion. The automaker is clearly still in a comfortable position, but more must be done if the German brand wants to catch Tesla.