BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The Volkswagen brand sold 67 percent less vehicles in Germany in April due to the standstill caused by the coronavirus crisis, Germany's largest car manufacturer announced on Monday.
The German market was in an "almost exclusively good position" because in some other countries the minus had been considerably greater, said Juergen Stackmann, board member of Volkswagen, during a telephone conference on Monday.
Volkswagen sales in Europe, excluding Germany, even plummeted by 83 percent compared with the same month last year, according to the German car manufacturer.
In Britain, France, Italy and Spain there were almost no sales at all, according to Volkswagen. In the United States, sales were down 35 percent.
Sales in China, on the other hand, almost remained at last year's level and only fell by around 2.5 percent, according to the German car manufacturer. According to Volkswagen, 60 percent of customers in China were first-time buyers.
In China, Volkswagen brand was expecting to "reach the previous year's level again in May," said Stackmann.
In order to boost sales in its home market Germany, Volkswagen brand launched a new program that included special leasing and financing offers. After around five weeks of shutdown due to the coronavirus crisis, Volkswagen gradually restarted production in Germany at the end of April. Enditem
