US Volkswagen sales down 25%, e-Golf sales up 300%

CleanTechnica

Despite Volkswagen sales in the US generally falling following the diesel car emissions testing scandal, e-Golf sales have been rising notably — with a year-on-year comparison of 2014 and 2015 sales showing an increase of nearly 300%, based on the the most recently released sales figures.

To be more specific here — November 2015 saw Volkswagen of America sell 472 e-Golfs, as compared to 119 sold in the US during November 2014. Of course, these sales, while representing a notable rise, are still well under those of the best selling Volkswagen models — so I guess the scandal hasn’t altered consumer habits as much as might have been hoped.

Altogether, November 2015 saw Volkswagen of America sell 23,882 vehicles — of this figure, the vast majority were gas-mobiles (Jettas, Tiguans, and Passats, mostly).

A recent press release provides a bit more:

The November sales results reflect the impact of the recent stop-sale for all 2.0L 4-cylinder TDI vehicles as well as for the 3.0L V6. The voluntary stop-sales were issued in light of notices received by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) regarding emissions compliance.

“Volkswagen is working tirelessly on an approved remedy for the affected TDI vehicles. During this time we would like to thank our dealers and customers for their continued patience and loyalty,” stated Mark McNabb, chief operating officer, Volkswagen of America.

One can’t help but laugh a bit at statements like that considering all that’s been revealed about company culture (and general practices) as a result of the scandal. Perhaps a stronger push towards electric vehicles (EVs) would be a better long-term choice than continuing to try and push diesels on consumers. Perhaps’s the company simply figures that over the longer term the American companies (Tesla, Apple, Google, etc) are going to takeover anyways.

Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.