Volkswagen Defies The Economy - Sales Rise 4% in July

Audi comment: Audis are great.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 8/1/2008 12:21:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Volkswagen is in the right place at the right time, apart form the Toureg, it had a fleet of more economical vehicles than most. If VW and the rest of the Europeans can get their supper efficient diesels on sale in the USA they will do even better.

— steve27t (View Profile)

Posted on 8/1/2008 12:19:56 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

its 4% growth, WOW amazing, they sold a total of...


~800 more cars. big deal.

— michal1980 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/1/2008 1:19:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Good to see. I recently converted from BMW to VW and don't regret the move at all. Not to say 1 is better then the other - just at this stage of the life - the VW fits my needs more. Hope they continue their recent US success throughout the year.

— CRS2112 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/1/2008 1:20:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

michal1980. The point is VW sales up or level and others, including Toyota down, some a lot. In a market that is losing huge volume overall, going against the trend is NEWS. Worldwide VW/Audi is #3 so your jibe about them being insignificant is purile.
For fun you can look at Lexus/Toyota sales in the UK. I think you will find they are pretty insignificant.

— steve27t (View Profile)

Posted on 8/1/2008 6:10:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

this is for my dumbass friend michal980. Let us say that i made about 100k a year and they cut my pay 15% and now i make 85k. so that is very significant to me as it will change my lifestyle as i will have less to spend. Now if you made 15k a year. But days later even without knowledge of pucchiach you got promoted at mickey d's and no make 15.5k, it will be very significant to you as you will make more purchases of those gay japanese porn movies of which you are fond of.

— rhp1462 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/2/2008 8:08:09 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

4% of nothing is still nothing. That's the point. It's a lot easier to show a 4% gain when you are at the bottom of the barrel. Plus they are practically giving them away with very few takers.
VWs still suck.

— avanti64 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/8/2008 12:24:31 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

VW is number now number three world wide taking over that spot from Ford as has been pointed out. Their market position is admittedly very weak in the U.S., which means they have huge upward market potential in North America like no other large auto maker has, which means they could become number two or--really--number one easier than any other big player.

I think only one other major player is up from last year--Honda--in the U.S. Even though VW doesn't have much market share in the U.S. while becoming more dominant in the rest of the world, this is actually encouraging for them as they have more upward potential to sell more cars world wide. The fact that they are up in the U.S. and the world is a trend that is bucking the rest of the industry.

Four things to consider that may suggest 'look out for VW' in the upcoming years:

(1) VW has put diesel back in the small car market this month without state limitations and without any negative tags other than the high cost of diesel fuel. The Jetta TDI and Jetta SportWagen TDI already have orders that project them to immediately pick up 15% of their total vehicle sales with diesel autos and this niche provides America the only compact diesel choices and the only diesel choices under $25K. These new entries should drive market share even higher as compared to last year. Profit margins on this expensive-to-build diesels, however, are suspect. Much like manufacturers face with hybrid sales.

(2) They will soon add a minivan and new product entries are just getting underway like the compact, Tiguan SUV @ 24 mpg. These new products in new vehicle classes give more consumers a VW choice.

(3) In three or four years, we'll be getting VWs built in Chattanooga, TN. This will give VW more political clout in the U.S. and will give them more leverage to capitalize on the weak U.S. dollar. Right now, only the Jetta and Beetle are made in North America and their profits suffer with all other models from the exchange rate. When they are made in the U.S., it will be a whole other ball game.

(4) Reliability scores and initial quality scores have gone from "below average" with many of their previous-edition vehicles to "average" to "above average" with most of the current editions which started in 2005.

One problem hindering growth for VW in the U.S.:

Improving and growing their dealer network. VW dealers historically haven't been very happy with the company. Warranty work, parts distribution and even sales coordination, product choices, and marketing campaigns haven't set well with dealers for a long time. They don't have the dealer network that others have to significantly grow sales and the network they do have doesn't work too well.

— gregsfc (View Profile)

Posted on 8/9/2008 10:44:24 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

My VW doesn't suck. It doesn't suck fuel. It looks good. It drives good. And it's been trouble free. If you're looking for more, then you're image searching and people really aren't impressed by what we drive. Some of us, however, think they are.

I'm not brand loyal like many on this site. I shopped for a vehicle objectively when I chose the Jetta. It seemed much more solid than the Civic and Corolla when I test drove them and it had much better fit and finish. The EPA estimated 41 mpg, hwy; I'm getting 48. I've owned Toyota, Ford, Nisaan, and GM. So far, so good with my VW.

Best of all, it's the only affordable diesel on the market. I run it on 20% biodiesel and the driving dynamics beat that of any car I've owned. I don't plan on ever owning a spark-ignition vehicle again!

— gregsfc (View Profile)

Posted on 8/9/2008 10:56:01 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1