September Sales: Ze Germans

by Edward Niedermeyer

October 1st, 2009 8:24 PM

Volkswagen was up 1.5 percent, despite huge drops in total Rabbit (-74.5 percent) and Passat (-55.8 percent) sales. Passat CC more than made up the difference for its pedestrian sibling, selling nearly three and a half times the Passat at 2,290. Tiguan (-17.7 percent) and Touareg (-49.4 percent) tanked, but surprising Routan sales (+140 percent, 901 units) helped make up for it. Jetta wagon was down 9.1 percent but Sedan sales rose 10.4 percent on much higher volume, making for an 8.5 percent increase. New Beetle dropped 12.1 percent while Eos fell 21.8 percent. Audi was down 4.9 percent with only A3 (+26.1 percent), A5 (+37.3 percent) and R8 (+5.5 to 77 units) up on the month. Q7 (-46.7) and A8 (-28.4 percent) were the biggest losers.

Mercedes was down 9.6 percent with only the refreshed E-Class (+28.4 percent) making significant volume gains. The new GLK sold 1,558 units, but that wasn’t enough to beat ML volume which slid 14.4 percent to 2,552. Mercedes’ best seller was the C-Class, which fell 26.1 percent to 5,002. That model outsold E-Class and S-Class put together.

BMW sales increased 3.6 percent in September, including a 9.7 percent bump in MINI sales. BMW-brand cars were up 17 percent while SUVs fell 37 percent. The 3-Series was the best-selling Bimmer with 6,523 units sold.

Porsche was up eight percent, with Cayman and Boxster models gaining faster than most 911 and Cayenne models. Carrera 4S and 4S Cabriolet were exceptions to unexceptional 911 sales, recording 89 and 105 sales respectively.

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Wsn on Oct 02, 2009
# AlexD : October 2nd, 2009 at 10:27 am Sammy, to which discussion board should those of us who follow the minor league teams go then? ----------------------- Nothing wrong with "following the minor league teams." You can do it here. From the news above, we know VW/MB/Porsche are all still in business. That's about it. It's the type of statement "As one of those 2,200 CC buyers, I can tell you there’s no magic to what VW is doing, just good solid execution." some of us cannot agree. FYI, Toyota typically sell 30,000 ~ 40,000 Camries per month. Can we say a Camry is 10 times better than a CC? If you try to make a statement, be prepared to defend it. No, 2200 units sold isn't impressive for mid-size car. If anything, it's only proof that it's poorly done.

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Roundel on Oct 02, 2009

There are a millon factors as to why the CC sells so little compared to the Camry... dealership numbers... and different base prices could be a few. Not every car needs to be benchmarked against the appliances. Do you compare why the 5 Series and E Class sell so little against the Camry as well?

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Pourspeller on Oct 02, 2009

In Canada, I know at least some Routans are going to businesses as fleet vehicles because of a low lease rate that Chrysler can't touch. And the interiors are certainly nicer.

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Mpresley on Oct 02, 2009

I walked into my VW dealer and, due to 0% financing, drove out with a Passat. The cc was nice, but somehow too flashy: other than style they appear very similar. BTW...saw my first Routan, today. I was not happy, and wished I hadn't. Finally, no one serious about a Japanese car would likely ever think VW. It's a different mindset, in my experience.

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