VW Chokes In December With 22.7% DROP In Sales - Down 6.9% For Year

Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) today reported 407,704 units delivered in 2013. December deliveries totaled 34,015.

Volkswagen’s high-mileage, TDI® Clean Diesel models totaled 95,823 units for the year accounting for 23.5 percent of sales in 2013 and 17.8 percent in December. Since 2,000, Volkswagen of America has delivered over 500,000 TDI® Clean Diesel vehicles.

“Volkswagen is now operating at a new plateau, delivering over 400,000 units for the second consecutive year in over 40 years,” said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “We look forward to 2014, with the introduction of the new Golf family, continued increased awareness and enthusiasm for the brand’s core models and the strength of our TDI offerings, we are well positioned for our next phase of growth to come over the next few years.”

The Chattanooga-built Volkswagen Passat continues to demonstrate its strong appeal in the market with 9,254 units sold in December and 109,652 for the year. Clean Diesel TDI Passat sales were the best year on record with 34,963 vehicles delivered, accounting for 32 percent of sales of the year.

Jetta sedan sales totaled in 13,719 in December and 141,259 for the year, demonstrating that affordable, German Engineering is a key selling point for the brand.

mini22 - 1/3/2014 10:44:39 AM

+1 Boost

VW's problem I think is one of styling.The cars themselves are not bad. The Jetta and Passat are too plain vanilla looking.

Car4Life - 1/3/2014 10:53:45 AM

+1 Boost

I'd have to agree, hopefully their subsidiary, Audi, takes note.

freeagent - 1/3/2014 11:41:52 AM

+1 Boost

they just need the new Golf to fix it

MattDarringer - 1/3/2014 11:49:16 AM

0 Boost

VW's problems are: (1) incorrect products in the dealer, (2) ridiculous pricing, (3) below average reliability, (4) often rude dealer treatment at the service level. VW needs to rename themselves to MIA Motors (missing in action).

Let's review product...

The "A" segment (Spark, Fiat 500, Mirage??) is showing the American market will buy ultra small, affordable vehicles. Where is UP? It could be sourced from China for cheap and be a player. MIA

The "B" segment (Fit, Fiesta, Sonic, Versa...) is hotly contested, so where is the Polo? MIA! It too could be sourced from China or Mexico and be priced right.

In the "C" segment they have the Golf (that always has dumpy styling), the Jetta, and the Beetle. In this segment VW has always relied on cheap but bad engines (2.0 and 2.5) or outrageously expensive ones (2.0T and TDI). The Jetta is imply not competitive against the Corolla, Focus, Cruze, etc. and VW is stubborn about facing that. The new Golf that looks like every Golf before it is simply too boring. The Beetle should have been a frugal hybrid and instead it is a bloated Lincoln-worthy land barge. More MIA thinking.

In the "D" segment they have the Passat and CC. The CC is wrong sized and wrong priced. For the price it needs to b larger than the Passat and in essence be the VW Avalon. The Passat arrived flawed. Your choices were the gas guzzling 2.5 or the V6 or to get gouged on price if you wanted a TDI. Where is the Passat hybrid to battle Camry, Accord, and Fusion hybrids? MIA

Crossovers? MIA X100! The Tiguan is incapable of competing with the RAV4, Escape, and CRV because it is wrong sized and wrong priced. The Toerag is an embarrassment of wrong size and wrong price. When the CrossBlue comes--if it ever comes--it will be right sized, but wrong priced and no doubt saddled with a dumb name like Taekwondishia or something.

Pickups? MIA again. The Amarok with a TDI would be perfect for the American market. Not available.

Trucks? MIA Everyone has new cargo vans these days, but not VW.

gkearns56 - 1/3/2014 3:18:30 PM

+1 Boost

WOW Matt you either an expert on VW models, quality control and/or had a VW in the past. They are a "conservative" model. Personally a little too much for myself. But if you delete the Routan percentage loss from the stats above, it's not as bad as it looks. I believe they are discontinuing that Routan model. I couldn't quite figure out how that VAN fit into their lineup anyways. New Golf lineup coming. I like their Golf GLI model. I think it's cool!!

SuperTurtlePlus - 1/6/2014 10:24:33 PM

+1 Boost

I don't tend to place close attention to Volkswagon brand (I prefer GM) but If I were to give VW any sort of credit, it would be for the names of their vehicles. They're really interesting, and use names from winds (Gulf, Passat, Jetta) storms (Scirocco) and peoples (Tuareg, if I recall an African nomadic tribe).

Some are made up, like Routan (a variation on 'route') and Tigaun (a combination of Tiger and Iguana).

cidflekken - 1/3/2014 2:54:38 PM

0 Boost

Agreed. The entire VW line, outside of the Golf/GTI and CC may be the blandest/ugliest line of cars available. Both the Passat and Jetta should be more competitive, but neither of them looks like their starting prices should be over $15k. The Tiguan is the dumpiest looking small CUV extant. I accidentally shake my head at people who I see driving them. The GTI/Golf R pricing is just wrong.

MattDarringer - 1/4/2014 10:46:56 AM

+1 Boost

@gkerns56 I happen to be very aware of the car market as well as having direct experience with VW "quality" via my wife's 2011 Jetta and her 2006 Jetta. The 2006 always had something needing to be fixed during warranty. Out of warranty it needed major repairs by 75K and the car was religiously maintained. The 2011 was another dealer queen so we dumped it for a Kia Optima SXL which has top-tier quality that the VWs sorely lack. A friend has a TDI Sportwagen and the nav screen thing has been replaced 4 times under warranty and still does not show correct altitude among other things. VW has one of the highest warranty incidence rates in the industry.

Pricing on VWs is ridiculous. The Jetta and Passat seem right priced, but if you compare the Jetta S to the Hyundai Elantra of the same price point, the Hyundai is better equipped with much better fit and finish. Now factor in Hyundai superior reliability and why buy the Jetta. On paper, the TDIs seem affordably priced but go to the dealer and look. Getting any TDI for less than $30K is a no go. A while ago I was shopping with a friend. 3 Golf TDIs all 3 were just a tick under $30K.

The problem with VW quite frankly is Piech.