Volkswagen Dealers Face A New Problem - Not Enough Inventory To Sell

Two months into the emissions cheating scandal that has sullied the Volkswagen brand, dealers are running into an unexpected challenge: They don't have enough vehicles to sell.

VW-brand supplies are at their lowest levels of the year, and dealers from Washington state to South Carolina say they have only a few -- and sometimes none -- of the most in-demand nameplates in stock.

Instead of seeing customers flee the brand in the wake of its emissions debacle, the VW brand posted flat year-over-year U.S. sales in October as demand for gasoline models surged amid heavy incentives, including a $2,000 loyalty discount for returning VW owners.

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mre30 - 11/16/2015 11:20:18 AM

+3 Boost

VW and its corporate overlords has so far, completely botched up their PR response to the diesel incident. They were caught completely flat-footed, they then fell back on their heels, now they are basically lying on the ground while the press, governmental, and legal hyenas are having them for lunch!

This scandal has been so mis-handled that it points to only one thing - VW is completely micro-managed by the Piech family who runs it to the extent that no one is willing to question their authority or even make suggestions.

One of the worst handled scandals ever, was the 1986 Audi unintended acceleration scandal, which has been the subject of HBS case studies in "what not to do", and this diesel gate is basically heading in that direction.

This whole episode is a good reason why companies with poor governance and poor transparency will eventually have real problems.

MorePower - 11/16/2015 6:48:11 PM

+2 Boost

@AnimeJapan

Airbag scandal
Floormat scandal
Brake scandal

MDarringer - 11/16/2015 6:57:34 PM

+2 Boost

VW inventories are at their lowest levels because so much of the inventory is illegal. I predict there will be dealers who will dump VW.