STORY: Volkswagen Group sales hit their lowest in over a decade in 2022.

Figures out Thursday (January 11) showed the firm delivered 8.3 million vehicles over the period.

Shipments were down 7% on the year before.

VW was hit by supply chain snags and lockdowns in China.

The numbers leave it set to remain in second place among global automakers.

Japanese rival Toyota Group had already delivered over 9.5 million cars by November.

However, there were bright spots for the German giant.

Its luxury brands all did well, with Bentley posting another record year.

VW also remained Europe’s top maker of electric vehicles.

Worldwide, its sales of EVs jumped by just over a quarter, boosted by an increase of almost two-thirds in China.

The group is aiming for electric sales this year to account for 11% of the total.

That’s a stepping stone to its target of making half of all its sales electric by 2030.

Orders for all vehicles did rebound strongly in the fourth quarter of last year, but VW says the outlook for 2023 remains very uncertain.