U.S. auto sales accelerate in November

These sales figures come in the wake of an emissions scandal in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to the company after discovering that the company had manipulated their turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to mislead laboratory emissions tests to the effect that certain pollutants met U.S. standards.

The company has said the revelations have had an impact on auto sales, with demand for the group’s 12 brands – including Audi, Skoda and Porsche – falling. The company also has withdrawn its application to get emissions controls approved on four-cylinder diesels for the 2016 model year, and the government is investigating whether VW cheated on those.

The automaker sold 5,462 TDI diesel vehicles in November 2014, a spokeswoman told AFP.

Volkswagen and the German industry have been rocked by revelations starting September 18 that the carmaker had used software to hoodwink regulators about the true emissions of its diesel cars for years.

But that couldn’t make up for big sales declines for some of the brand’s best-sellers, including a 60-percent drop in sales of the Passat sedan and a 23-percent drop in Jetta sales.

Mr Brown said he started the month at one of his stores with just 38 saleable new cars on the lot, about a third of what he would like.

Sales at Audi and Porsche have fared somewhat better, but neither set records in November.

VW froze sales of diesel vehicle models in the United States on November 4 after new accusations on the use of software that cheats on emissions tests.

A top labour representative from within the company explained the changes in an interview with Bloomberg, saying that staff members on the factory floor have long flagged the large number of variants and components as adding cost and complexity.

The company is closing in on regulatory approval for a series of low-priced fixes for 8.5 million rigged diesel vehicles in Europe, and its proposals for three affected engines have made a positive impression on regulators, Germanys Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in a statement on Monday.

But deals are only part of the reason for this year’s strong USA sales.

“I had more cars that I can’t sell parked in the back lot than I had in the front lot for sale”, said Alan Brown, who co-owns two VW dealerships in the Dallas area and is chairman of the brand’s US dealer council.

Volkswagen admitted to the malpractice and said about 11 million cars worldwide were fitted with the “defeat device”.