Difficult Days for Volkswagen in the US Market – Sales Down 25 Percent

Car sales in the US market in November approached record levels, thanks to increased advertising and American consumer spending, but sales of Volkswagen vehicles fell by nearly 25 percent following the emissions cheating scandal.

In the US market last month, car sales rose by 1.4 percent compared to the same month last year, to 1.32 million, just slightly less than the record sales in November 2001. Therefore, many analysts expect that this year will surpass the record sales of 2000, when 17.35 million cars were sold in the US market. This is primarily attributed to increased investments in advertising and stable growth in American consumer spending.

According to data from iSpot.tv, a company that tracks television advertising, the auto industry invested about $1.10 billion in television advertising in October and November, which is nearly 25 percent more than in the same period last year. Almost all manufacturers that have reported sales data for November so far have recorded growth. For example, sales of Toyota and Fiat Chrysler rose by more than 2 percent, General Motors by 1.5 percent, and Ford by 0.4 percent.

However, sales of Volkswagen vehicles fell by 24.7 percent in November compared to the same month last year, to approximately 24,000 vehicles. In October, the first month after the emissions cheating scandal broke, sales of VW vehicles fell by 0.24 percent. Volkswagen admitted on September 18 that it had installed illegal software in approximately 11 million diesel vehicles to conceal the true level of emissions, causing the largest business crisis in its history. The US market is not the largest for VW, and recently, due to the scandal, the German manufacturer halted sales of several diesel car models.