VW Records 19.7 Percent Sales Drop
Volkswagen’s March sales were down nearly 20 percent compared to last March, a smaller drop than many other OEMs faced last month in a tough US market. Wolfsburg’s new Passat CC had its best sales month ever at 2,351 sales, but only new models such as the CC, Tiguan, Routan and Jetta Sportwagon kept VW’s sales looking decent. Models which were on sale in March of last year are down dramatically, from the Rabbit (-60 percent) to the “new” Beetle (-60 percent) and from the Eos (-62 percent) to the Passat (-72.4 percent). The best-performing existing VW model was the Jetta sedan which lost only 27.4 percent of its sales. Otherwise, things were pretty much a bloodbath that is only barely being papered over by new-model sales.
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I guess the idiots, I mean customers, buying VW's must have slightly more resilient job prospects than most. Then again were not talking very much volume here compared to the majors, so a 20% drop is quite significant.
The VW bashing here is getting boring. Sure the Routan is pretty stupid...but to call all owners "idiots"?! I'd like jmhm2003 to disclose what they drive and I'm positive I could find some fault and call them some name they don't really deserve in return. For the record, I'm completely, absolutely, positively overjoyed that I get to drive a fun and economical car like the GTI everyday.
Not sure I'd call a Routan buyer and idiot, but they surely must be drinking some pretty strong VW kool-aid to go with a Routan over much better offerings from Honda and Toyota. The only new VW's I've seen lately are TDI Jetta's. A cult car for the anti-Prius crowd which has lost appeal with the drop in oil prices. I still have yet to see very many 6th Gen Passat and they have been around since what? 2005? That car has got to be considered a flop compared to the 5th gen. Also seen more co-workers trade in their old VW's on new Toyota's, Honda's and Hyundai's than on new VW's. From where I'm sitting the Volkswagen slide appears to have started years ago long before the greater economy took a crap.
200k-min: VW's decline has been ongoing. Sometimes things look up when they occasionally make a smart decision for the NA market, but most of the time things are pretty depressing. I like VWs because they've been the only company to offer a diesel engine consistently over the years. I enjoy the torque, sound, and fuel efficiency of a small diesel engine. However, if I had to rely on a VW stealership for service, I would have gone to a Honda or Toyota by now. Thanks to the Internet, there are excellent resources like TDIClub.com. If that didn't exist, I likely would be driving a Corolla or something like that. VW's fortunes in North America won't improve until they fix their horrific dealer network, and offer cars that more people want to buy. I'm personally waiting for a Polo TDI, Touran TDI, or a Tiguan TDI. I might be dead by the time either of them arrive, but it might happen in the next 50 years!