VW European Sales Growth Screeches to Near-Halt

A Chinese court has agreed to hear a case brought by a local environmental organisation against Volkswagen over its emissions-cheating scandal, the campaign group said on Tuesday.

The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation is going to take the automaker to court over 2-thousand vehicles imported to China, equipped with the problematic software at the heart of the scandal.

The company said today that Volkswagen delivered 496,100 vehicles last month, down from 508,400 in the same month the previlous year.

The non-governmental organization says Volkswagen broke Chinese laws and worsened air pollution.

Mass-market brands that offered hearty discounts witnessed the highest growth last month. Both automobiles had 3.0-litre V6 diesel and it is projected that from 2014 to 2016, almost 10,000 cars have been affected.

Buyers were more interested in vehicles by Ford Motor Co.

Volkswagen apologized to Chinese consumers when it recalled the 1,950 cars sold in China. Last week, it reported global sales were 2.2 percent lower than in November the previous year. However, in the first ten months of this year, Volkswagen’s sales dropped to about 3.3 million vehicles, reflecting 3.6% decline against the same period of previous year.

Paul Farrington, senior solution architect at software security specialist Veracode, comments, “The German government should be congratulated for addressing the automotive emissions scandal problem at its core by ensuring that its regulators have full access to carmakers’ code”. The slash in tax rate was only for vehicle with engine capacity of 1.6 liters and lower. “All major passenger auto markets rose strongly during the month, significantly contributing to the positive outcome of the European Union perimeter”.

The surge in vehicle sales was primarily driven by tax reduction.

It’s interesting that a group in China is seeking damages, considering 1,950 cars were reportedly affected by Volkswagen’s emissions cheating- a number that is far less than other countries affected, including the United States. “Or at least they could not find a way they felt at the time to be meaningful and that fitted the time frame and the budget they had been given”, Volkswagen AG Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch told a group of reporters.