Volkswagen was still the top selling vehicle here in November, despite the diesel emissions scandal which broke in September.
Advertisement
The increase came despite the fact sales of VW models fell by 20 per cent last month to 12,958, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
There was an increase of just under 28% in new private cars licensed in November. Sales of other VW brands were also down: Seat by 23 per cent, Skoda by 11 per cent and Audi by more than four per cent.
It followed a decline of 1.1% in October, the first in 44 months.
“We have been expecting a levelling-off in demand for some time now – a development that is being realised following an unprecedented three-and-a-half years of non-stop growth”.
A total of 1,874 cars were licensed, up 27.9 per cent, while the number of news goods vehicles licensed rose by 30.2 per cent to 1,314.
It has set aside €6.7bn (£4.8bn) to deal with the fall-out – a figure which is expected to rise. This is despite United Kingdom auto sales as a whole rising 3.8% in the same period, with 178,876 cars registered last month.
“Consumers are clearly re-evaluating their perceptions of the brand and it faces a hard time re-building trust and loyalty in the coming months”.
The Volkswagen diesel scandal is in-line to become the biggest taint in automotive history after investigations discovered that more and more diesel engines are equipped with the cheat device.
Advertisement
Indeed, despite the poor November showing, Volkswagen’s sales for the year to date are up 4.50% compared to the same period the year before.
