Apparently Volkswagen USA's Fall From Grace Hasn't Reached Its Sales Nadir Yet
The good news? Volkswagen of America sold more new vehicles in February 2016 than the company managed to sell in January 2016.
The bad news? Improving upon January’s results was a given. February volume was significantly stronger across the industry, just as it always is. Even as industry-wide sales grew 17 percent compared with January, Volkswagen sales grew 11 percent. And while the industry surged to its best February results since 2001, Volkswagen brand sales still fell to the lowest February total in five years.
As passenger car sales dipped ever so slightly in February, sliding by just about a half a percentage point compared with February 2015, Volkswagen’s car volume was down 20 percent. After claiming a disastrously low 1.75-percent market share in January 2016, the Volkswagen brand contributed only 1.66 percent of the auto industry’s total volume in February 2016.
The diesel emissions scandal, which erupted last September, was not the beginning of Volkswagen’s U.S. sales troubles. Volkswagen’s February sales have fallen in three consecutive years, sliding 29 percent since 2013. But with the brand’s dealers severely limited in terms of a product lineup, a reputation tarnished by cheating — there’s apparently nothing worse — and a pregnant pause before new in-demand vehicles are launched, these winter blues are not the end of Volkswagen’s U.S. sales troubles, either.
Regardless of timing, the sight of Volkswagen’s February sales results are uncomfortable to behold. Here’s a model-by-model perusal across the Volkswagen spectrum.
BEETLE
Combined sales of the Beetle Coupe and Beetle Convertible in February 2016 were chopped in half, falling to only 912 units, just the second (and second consecutive) three-digit sales month since the car was launched in September 2011.
CC
EOS
GOLF
Only 887 “conventional” Golf hatchbacks were sold in February, a 46-percent year-over-year decline.
Context? Uncommon cars that were more commonly acquired in February include the Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota Prius V, Nissan Armada, Land Rover LR4, Lexus RC, Ford Taurus Police Interceptor, and yes, the Volkswagen Beetle.
JETTA
PASSAT
TOUAREG
TIGUAN
Volkswagen reported only 3,245 Tiguan sales in February – top-selling competitors from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Nissan all topped the 20,000 sale benchmark last month.
[Images: Volkswagen of America]
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
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