Volkswagen sales plunge on emissions scandal

Volkswagen was keen to point out that this issue does not affect Golf, Jetta and Passat models that have been sold in the USA, though it is still a worrying development that is likely to add uncertainty to emissions figures advertised on gasoline-engined vehicles across all VW AG brands.

Volkswagen admitted to installing devices to cheat emissions tests on 11 million diesel vehicles globally, but only after the scandal was uncovered by the EPA in September.

New passenger auto registrations in the European Union and European Free Trade Association trading block rose 2.7% last month on a year ago to 1.14 million vehicles, according to the Brussels-based Association of European Carmakers.

While the sales decline in Europe was modest, it was potentially serious for the company because the region accounts for about 30 per cent of Volkswagen brand sales worldwide, which totaled 4,90,000 in October.

Since then, Volkswagen’s television advertising has all but gone dark until very recently, according to research firm iSpot.tv, which tracks TV ad spending in real-time.

“The VW brand is experiencing challenging times”, sales chief Juergen Stackmann said.

The 430,000 number relates only to cars from the 2016 model year, so we will have to wait and see if the original 800,000 number grows as VW reveal how many pre-2016 cars have official Carbon dioxide and economy ratings that have also been scammed. The automaker has already stated that a USA driver accepting its “goodwill package”, has no bearing on that same driver taking part in a possible class-action lawsuit against the company for its emissions cheating scandal.

CO2 also translates directly to the fuel economy of the vehicles sold, reinforcing the sense among some consumers that VW’s latest admission is tantamount to mis-selling. Its 10-month market share narrowed 0.4 percentage points to 25 per cent as the group’s 6.5-per-cent sales growth in the period lagged the industrywide 8.2-per-cent expansion. It says that Volkswagen will be informing the owners concerned.

In the ad, VW Group of America CEO Michael Horn insists his company is working “tirelessly” to establish the most efficient way of dealing with the crisis, with steps at some point expected to involve vehicle recalls for hardware and software adjustments.