VW has set a sales record – namely for its popular Currywurst. The car manufacturer announced this in a statement. picture alliance / dpa | Julian Stratenschulte
The car manufacturer VW can report a very special sales record – for its most popular patty for a long time.
With 8.33 million curry sausages, this “original part” became particularly popular last year.
New to the calorie configurator are a hot dog variant and the option to deselect pork.
Sales record amid the general car lull: The Wolfsburg-based company Volkswagen sold 8.33 million units in the past financial year, clearly exceeding the previous record from 2019. This was around seven million units.
But not new cars, but curry sausages. The car manufacturer produces these itself for its company restaurants. Identification tag: “Volkswagen original part” is written on the skin
Business Insider has now been given a VW announcement in which the car company’s works council informed its employees on Friday about the huge demand for the popular VW currywurst. When asked by the editorial team, a spokesman for the employee representatives confirmed the authenticity of the report.
VW sets sales record with curry sausages
“The legendary VW currywurst has achieved a new sales record thanks to the addition of a hot dog variant,” the document says. “Sales of the popular ‘Volkswagen original part’ of the classic Currywurst version were once again around 6.4 million units last year.”
This level has been held constant since 2020. “However, if you include the young hot dog variant available in retail stores,” say the authors, “there would be almost another two million units in 2023.” And that means an all-time high.
VW has allocated the production of its popular curry sausages to the so-called Service Factory, at the Wolfsburg location of the main plant.
It is “not entirely easy to compare the sales of our currywurst over the years,” a works council member is quoted as saying in the VW internal paper. The background to this: “There is the large 170 gram version and the smaller 85 gram version. We have internal sales channels through our company restaurants and external sales through retail outlets – and now we also have the 40-gram hot dog version there.”
VW praises butcher shop for its efforts
The employee representative put it this way: “Despite all the differences, we can say one thing with certainty: the internal and external fans of our original part have never eaten as many VW curry sausages as they will in 2023. Congratulations!”
And further: “This is a very strong result that also demonstrates the performance and innovative strength of our colleagues in the butcher shop. Respect and congratulations, keep it up!”
Lucrative options entice VW to expand its portfolio: “Volkswagen, which is responsible for the Service Factory, has long been responsible for the mini currywurst that is used in the hot dogs,” says the VW information. “The new product started in mid-2021. The hot dog curry sausages have since gone to a medium-sized company based in Berlin, which produces and markets the sausages produced at Volkswagen as a complete hot dog with a bun, sauce, fried onions and everything else.”
According to unconfirmed information from Business Insider, the medium-sized company is Freiberger in Berlin with around 4,000 employees, which is part of the Südzucker Group.
“In our VW homeland, the hot dog with the original VW currywurst is available in the Edeka bakery shops,” VW also says. “The mini currywurst has the identical recipe as the large currywurst, so it is actually quite simply an original part, albeit a small one.”
Currywurst could soon be available in VW canteens
It’s no wonder what an executive from VW’s catering business reports: “Our sales department was asked by the company whether we could develop a VW currywurst hot dog together.” The manager adds: “And the colleagues in the butcher shop then produced the sausage on a ‘small’ scale.” According to this, around 1.5 million hot dog versions had already been created in this way in 2022.
VW may also work on reducing the complexity in its factories – the hot dog extra sausage could be available in the company restaurants in the foreseeable future: “The plan is actually to offer the hot dog within Volkswagen too,” the executive thinks outside the box. “We see the product primarily in bistros, shops and also in mobile sales vans, i.e. the ID. Buzz that we use to deliver in production.”
The details are still murky. On another page of the menu, however, something important is already clear: VW’s currywurst is now also available made from 100 percent beef – “for example for colleagues who don’t eat pork,” says the works council.