Volkswagen Trips And Falls In September With A 12.2% Sales Freefall

Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) today reported 31,920 units delivered in September and 314,833 units year-to-date, down 2.6 percent year-to-date.

“While September was an expectedly tough month for the industry, Volkswagen is seeing some stability as we are consistently pacing at a solid level of performance for the second year in a row, a level we haven’t seen in 40 years,” said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer, Volkswagen of America. “As we enter the last quarter of the year, I’m confident we can maintain this pace as our product mix improves and we increase the availability of our 2014 model year vehicles.”

The Chattanooga-built Passat continues as a core model with 7,900 units delivered. In September the Passat TDI, the only clean diesel in the midsize sedan segment delivered 2,784 clean diesels, representing 35.2 percent of its sales mix. The Good Housekeeping Research Institute named the Passat TDI Clean Diesel the “Most Fuel Efficient Family-Friendly Sedan,” stating “For the driver aiming to be eco-conscious as well as budget-minded about fuel, this Volkswagen is a perfect fit.”

Total Jetta deliveries (including SportWagen) for September accounted for 13,309 units. The Jetta Turbo Hybrid continues to attract consumer interest with 887 deliveries in September, a 7.7 percent increase.
Total Beetle deliveries for September were 3,554 units, a 35.5 percent increase versus the prior year
The Tiguan had the best September ever with 2,406 units sold, this also marks the best year-to-date sales for the vehicle. Total sales of the Golf (including Golf R and GTI) were 2,127 units. The Touareg sold 658 units.

Volkswagen’s high-mileage, TDI® Clean Diesel models accounted for 24.4 percent of sales in September marking the best month ever for TDI sales and 24.3 percent year-to-date.

Patronus - 10/1/2013 11:43:51 AM

+2 Boost

This is somewhat expected when VW not only announces, but ships a brand new chassis of their bread and butter car. Of course the hiccup here is that the new chassis is not available in the US and won't be for many, many months.

Anyone who is even poorly researching a new Golf/Jetta realizes this and is likely delaying their purchase.

Personally, I am holding out for the GTD.

randy3023 - 10/1/2013 12:19:22 PM

0 Boost

Volkswagen got its fame and success from the sleek, economical Beetle of the 20th century.

Today, Volkswagen produces boring, pricey cars that lack innovation in terms of those same principles.

VW needs to stop making mistakes:

1) MISTAKE: The latest Beetle.
Should have been relaunched as a cheap, low-performance, sub-$16k hybrid. Not a $20k Autobahn burner.

2) MISTAKE: No American UP.
It's missing here in America. Why? Because it might eat sales of more expensive models like the 2012 Beetle? VW needs to wake up and take stock of its brand.

3) MISTAKE: 2012 Passat.
Engineers reworked the sheet metal on their previous-generation Passat into the CC, then hurriedly dumped them to make room for the boring, hopelessly-expensive 2012 Passat. A real head-scratcher, that one. The result: Flop, CC, Flop.

4) MISTAKES: Tiguan, Scirocco.
Should VW have sold the Scirocco in North America, as-is? No. Not every premium brand needs a sports coupé to attract the attention of young males and demonstrate the potential of its main offerings. The fanboys need to shoo — the Scirocco would not necessarily have fit that bill anyway. Scirocco should have been re-imagined with four doors, THEN introduced in America, to permit VW to compete with compact-size SUVs and wagons like Subarus, Nissan Rogues, and Hyundais. Why? becuase the diminutive TIGUAN, with its high price and lack of features, ISN'T cutting the mustard. VW missed out on the huge market for affordable, mid/compact-size SUVs, which, with the Tiguan, VW astonishingly decided to shun.

DieselRules - 10/4/2013 12:37:20 AM

+1 Boost

There's a silver lining to these statistics. While other brands try to dump leftover 2013 models, VW sales were down because dealers ran out of 2013s before the 2014s arrived ... again.
Especially Jetta and Passat TDIs.
And with diesels accounting for 25% VW sales that s definitely cause for a dip.

Any word on when I can trade my GTI on a GTD?