VW sales increase 0.6% in September despite diesel scandal

Thu, Oct 1 2015

Volkswagen was spared in the month of September from posting a sales disaster, but in reality, the impending doom and gloom is likely just postponed until October. According to VW, it delivered 26,141 vehicles to its dealerships last month, which represents a 0.6-percent gain over the same period a year ago. While up, that meager increase represents the smallest uptick of all major brands in the United States, which is currently in the middle of the best vehicular sales year in the last decade. Audi, the German automaker's mainstream luxury unit, saw a bigger gain at 16.2 percent with 17,340 total units sold, thanks in large part to the popularity of its crossover models.

These numbers can't totally be taken at face value, however. In 2014, Labor Day weekend was counted as part of August's sales figures; in 2015, that traditional car-buying holiday fell early in September and is therefore partly responsible for the huge increases from all brands doing business in the United States. Remember, the diesel emissions scandal didn't hit the news until September 18, which means VW was free to sell its 2.0-liter TDI engine for the majority of the month.

In other words, October is going to be the real indicator of sales reckoning as it will be the first full month that the brand can't sell its popular diesel models and the first since its emissions scandal broke. Still, TDI sales were down last month. VW reports a total of 3,060 sales of vehicles equipped with TDI engines, which represents 11.7 percent of total volume. That's nearly cut in half from the TDI's year-to-date volume percentage of 20.4 percent.

"We would like to thank dealers and customers for the support of the Volkswagen brand," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer for Volkswagen of America in a statement. "Volkswagen will continue to work diligently to regain trust and confidence in our brand."

It's not yet clear exactly when VW will issue a fix to make its 2.0-liter TDI engine emissions legal, or when the EPA will recertify those models for sale. Once those two things happen, dealers will again be free to sell vehicles equipped with the powertrain, but even then it remains to be seen how consumers react when the sales ban is lifted. Scroll down below for all the sales data from Volkswagen in September.

VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA REPORTS SEPTEMBER SALES
Oct 1, 2015

September sales total 26,141 units, a .56 percent increase over September 2014

The all-new Golf family of vehicles delivered 5,251 units, a 50.6 percent increase over the previous September
Golf GTI delivered 1,825 units for the month, a 14.1 percent increase, marking the best September on record
Tiguan delivered 2,972 units, a 77.5 percent increase, marking the best September on record

Herndon, VA — (October 1, 2015) Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) today reported sales of 26,141 units delivered in September 2015, a .56 percent increase over September 2014.

The sales results reflect a mid-month stop-sale for all 2.0L 4-cylinder TDI vehicles due to an investigation by EPA and CARB into emissions compliance.

"We would like to thank dealers and customers for the support of the Volkswagen brand," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer, Volkswagen of America. "Volkswagen will continue to work diligently to regain trust and confidence in our brand."

Volkswagen revealed the newly redesigned 2016 Passat earlier in the month; the vehicle will hit showrooms by the end of the year. In September, the Chattanooga-built Passat delivered 7,228 units.

September 2015 Sales

	Sept. 15	Sept. 14	Yr/Yr% change	Sept. 15 YTD	Sept. 14 YTD	Yr/Yr% change
Golf	1,193	1,887	-36.8%	16,193	9,062	78.7%
GTI	1,825	1,600	14.1%	16,817	12,124	38.7%
Golf R	462	-	N/A	2,701	15	>500%
e-Golf	343	-	N/A	2,555	-	N/A
Golf SportWagen	1,428	-	N/A	11,501	-	N/A
Total Golf Family	5,251	3,487	50.6%	49,767	21,201	134.7%
Jetta Sedan	7,746	8,980	-13.7%	94,793	99,142	-4.4%
Jetta SportWagen (now Golf SportWagen)	27	1,265	-97.9%	2,672	15,913	-83.2%
Total Jetta	7,773	10,245	-24.1%	97,465	115,055	-15.3%
Beetle Coupe	890	1,070	-16.8%	10,736	13,335	-19.5%
Beetle Convertible	649	751	-13.6%	8,330	9,971	-16.5%
Total Beetle	1,539	1,821	-15.5%	19,066	21,485	-11.3%
Eos	356	216	64.8%	2,156	2,819	-23.5%
Passat	7,228	7,280	-0.7%	63,736	74,913	-14.9%
CC	384	627	-38.8%	4,490	8,157	-45.0%
Tiguan	2,972	1,674	77.5%	22,221	19,120	16.2%
Touareg	638	646	-1.2%	5,314	5,200	2.2%
Routan*	-	-	N/A	-	1,103	-100.0%
TOTAL	26,141	25,996	0.56%	264,215	270,874	-2.46%

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News Source: Volkswagen
Image Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty

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By Jeremy Korzeniewski