VW Sales Rise Despite Emissions Scandal

As the Volkswagen emissions scandal deepens the seemingly embattled car company still posts increased car sales.

This past week US regulators announced that 800,000 additional VW cars have been found to have concealed their true emissions data through the use of tampered devices. Yet October sales figures are up by 0.24 percent over October last year for the same time period, with 30,387 additional cars sold.

Volkswagen thanked their customers for “their patience and loyalty.”

“Volkswagen is committed to making things right and actively working to restore trust,” said Mark McNabb, Volkswagen America’s CEO.

2009–2011 Volkswagen Golf (5K) 118TSI Comfortline 5-door hatchback
2009–2011 Volkswagen Golf (5K) 118TSI Comfortline 5-door hatchback

VW Jettas and Beetles suffered the most this year with sales falling by 41.5 percent and 34.1 percent respectively. VW’s Golf line however had 40.2 percent increased sales compared to October last year.

The German-based car company sacked the CEO who was aware of the deception, hired a new CEO, and apologized to its customers. The new report from the environmental regulators seemed to say that VW used the emission-concealing software many more times than was previously known.

“It’s the intentional deceit that bothers consumers and Volkswagen hasn’t laid out its plan for how it is going to fix this. They need to lay out a plan before they can begin to turn the corner,” said Michelle Krebs senior analyst for AutoTrader.com.

About Alison Meadows

Alison Meadows has a PHD in Economic Trends in Modern Times and is a known writer who focuses on hedge fund investments. Meadows, her husband, and three kids live in Boston, where she grew up and attended college. Contact Alison at alison[at]businessdistrict.com