Diesels Help VW Increase Sales in July
Cruddy time to be an automaker it would seem … unless you’re Volkswagen that is. VW’s sales numbers for July looked surprisingly good, and it’s all down to one reason: People can’t get their hands on the new VW clean diesels fast enough, especially the Jetta TDi SportWagen. It seems logical if you think about it. There are a number of conspiring factors. Times is tight, so people want to save money, and those new TDis are sweet mills.
“Volkswagen’s award winning clean diesels, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, and Touareg TDI, once again posted their best sales month since their re-launch with 6,320 units — accounting for more than 30 percent of total sales.” So says the Volkswagen presser. But think about that for a second, nearly a THIRD of all sales for VW have been diesels. That’s a huge fraction, especially when you consider how blasé Americans usually are about oil-burners. And yes, the Jetta SportWagen gets a major chunk of the credit here.
TDIs accounted for a whopping 81 percent of SportWagen sales, and 40 percent of Jetta sedan sales. And I wouldn’t doubt either of those figures. From what I’ve been reading, finding a TDIs SportWagen on a dealer lot in California is next to impossible.
According to said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, VW of America, “Volkswagen of America is extremely pleased by how well our clean diesel TDIs continued to sell throughout July, and by our highly successful first month of the government sponsored ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program.” Sure, that Cash for Clunkers deal helped, but diesel-heads were pointed out how fast these guys were flying off lots before that even kicked in.
Barnes went on to say that, “It was not by accident that Volkswagen was able to perform so well in the government ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program. Our dealers were well informed and fully trained on the rules of the program, our marketing was in place, and our product line of fuel efficient vehicles all contributed to a successful first month. I’m thrilled that our dealers were able to respond so well to the ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program.”
Huh, pretty smart of them to be ahead of the curve and be ready before hand for what was coming. Compare that with reports of various other dealers being completely bewildered by the CFC program and not knowing what to do.
Here’s VW’s press release:
News Release Issued: August 3, 2009 12:41 PM EDT
Clean Diesel Continues to Fuel Volkswagen’s July Sales
-Over thirty percent of total sales were Clean Diesel TDI
-Government sponsored ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program accounted for over 3,300 salesHERNDON, Va., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced July 2009 sales of 20,590 units, representing a 0.7 percent increase over July 2008.
Volkswagen’s award winning clean diesels, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, and Touareg TDI, once again posted their best sales month since their re-launch with 6,320 units — accounting for more than 30 percent of total sales. The Jetta SportWagen for the third consecutive month posted its best sales month ever with sales of 2,415 units; clean diesel TDIs represented 81 percent of SportWagen sales, and 40 percent of Jetta sedan sales.
“Volkswagen of America is extremely pleased by how well our clean diesel TDIs continued to sell throughout July, and by our highly successful first month of the government sponsored ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program,” said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “It was not by accident that Volkswagen was able to perform so well in the government ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program. Our dealers were well informed and fully trained on the rules of the program, our marketing was in place, and our product line of fuel efficient vehicles all contributed to a successful first month. I’m thrilled that our dealers were able to respond so well to the ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ Program,” added Barnes.
Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Photo from Flickr user beej55