| A look into Volkswagen's 2009 numbers show that | | | | took an even bigger hit by falling an astonishing 80.8%. |
| their sales numbers might be increasing, but they are | | | | In North America, VW's market share recognized a |
| struggling to stay afloat financially. Of course, the | | | | loss of 20.7% while in its home country, Germany, its |
| worldwide recession could be partly to blame for this | | | | market share increased 18.4%. |
| abysmal yearly performance, but that argument only | | | | Unfortunately for Volkswagen, though, the countries of |
| goes so far. So, let's see what the numbers have to | | | | Germany and China were the only two locales where |
| say about Volkswagen's relevancy in the automobile | | | | sales saw an increase. Volkswagen is able to tout that |
| industry. | | | | their market share worldwide was able to increase |
| For 2009, Volkswagen recognized a 0.6% increase in | | | | from 10.3% in 2008 to 11.3% in 2009. |
| total sales from fiscal year 2008. While increasing | | | | Volkswagen shareholders saw their shares of |
| sales, they were also able to slightly reduce the | | | | Volkswagen go from being worth 11.92 per share in |
| number of vehicles produced, which led to layoffs of a | | | | 2008 to 2.38 in 2009. This obviously makes it difficult to |
| 1,500 employees. These statistics might lead you to | | | | be overly optimistic about Volkswagen's people, as this |
| believe that VW is moving forward in a market in | | | | kind of drop in share price is sure to send investors |
| which other manufacturers are struggling to get | | | | running to better investments. |
| through. However, the actual financial data paints an | | | | While there are some positive things that VW can |
| entirely different picture. | | | | take away from their fiscal year 2009, there are many |
| As compared to 2008, Volkswagen found their 2009 | | | | other areas of their business that must be addressed |
| sales revenue decreasing by 7.6% while their operating | | | | quickly before too much damage in both their domestic |
| profit fell a mind-bending 70.7%. Their profit after taxes | | | | as well as their international markets is done. |