Scandal-hit Volkswagen sees sales fall 2 percent in 2015

The scandal became known only in late September, so it only could have affected figures in the last months of the year.

VW Group’s vehicle sales last month dropped by 5.2 percent to 834,800 last month as higher volume as Audi and Skoda failed to offset the VW brand’s decline. With global momentum heading into 2015, despite a weak product lineup in the USA, it had threatened to overtake Toyota for that title three years early. GM and Toyota announce full-year figures later this month.

BMW came third with 46,229 units, up 1.3 percent for a share of 14.07 percent. CEO Matthias Mueller has ordered spending cuts to stabilize the company’s finances ahead of what analysts expect to be tens of billions in fines and settlement costs.

“While developments on markets in Brazil and Russian Federation had a noticeable impact on deliveries by our brands, we made advances in Europe”, Mr. Mü ller said.

The namesake VW brand suffered a big blow in 2015.

Placing second behind German competitor Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen saw its sales tumble 18.8 percent from the year before to 54,766 units, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

While no problems were found with Volkswagen vehicles imported to Japan through formal channels, sales in December plunged 39.2 percent to 4,532 units. December sales were down 2% in the United States, where the company’s diesel cars have been pulled from dealer showrooms.

This is not only the largest number of imported vehicles sold in Korea since the market opened almost three decades ago, but it is also the first time annual sales have exceeded 200,000 units.