A Few Ripples
Domestic market sales of Volkswagen, which admitted to cheating on diesel emissions tests, fell by half year-on-year. Compared to Sept., when Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal started spreading, the figure reduced by a third. With negative recognition on diesel cars prevailing, sales of three German automakers also dropped nearly 20 percent from last month.
The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said on Nov. 5 that the number of new imported cars registered in Oct. totaled 17,423 units. The figure increased 6 percent from the same period last year, but decreased 14.5 percent in September. By month, it is the lowest level in eight months.
By brand, Volkswagen showed a dramatic drop in sales. The total sales of the company amounted to 947 units, down 46.2 percent from 1,759 units last year and 67.4 percent from 2,901 units in September. It was the first time that Volkswagen sold less than 1,000 units a month since it sold 725 units in Dec. 2011. By model, sales of diesel vehicles plunged. The Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI, which ranked top in terms of monthly sales, saw sales of 201 units in October, more than 500 units less than its September sales. Only five units of the Passat 2.0 TDI, which sales exceeded more than 500 units in the last four months, were sold in Oct. Also, sales of the Golf 2.0 TDI plunged by three-fourths, from 430 units in September to 106 units in October. Due to the sharp drop in sales, Volkswagen ranked fifth in terms of brand sales rankings, pushed down by Peugeot.
Moreover, sales of three German automakers dropped in October compared to September, when the emissions cheat scandal emerged. Mercedes-Benz sold the most cars in the country with sales of 3,713 units, a decrease of 14.2 percent from the previous month. BMW saw its sales drop by 10 percent to 3,156 units in October, while Audi also saw its sales decrease by 27 percent to 2,482. In particular, the figure of BMW fell by 9.3 percent from the same period last year. With the sluggish sales of BMW, the accumulative sales of Mercedes-Benz in October this year reached 38,603 units, surpassing BMW with 38,436 units. This is the first time for Mercedes-Benz to beat BMW in terms of accumulated sales.