Volkswagen’s 2017 Sales Rebound Thanks to Atlas, Golf SportWagen [News]

VW’s year-to-date sales are up 5% over 2016, thanks to the new Atlas and the Golf SportWagen.

Volkswagen’s been having a tough couple years. Still reeling from the 2015 Dieselgate scandal, which resulted in impromptu VW storage lots cropping up all over the country, their sales are starting to recover. At the end of 2016, Volkswagen of America reported delivery of 322,948 cars. This year, Volkswagen’s 2017 sales rebounded 5.2% to 339,676 cars.

What’s interesting to take into account with Volkswagen’s 2017 sales is that its improved fortunes came on the back of two cars – the 2018 Tiguan and the Golf SportWagen. But how did the rest of the Volkswagen brand fare in the U.S.? Here’s a recap of December 2017 sales and VW’s figures for 2017 as a whole:

Volkswagen’s 2017 Sales Winners: 2018 Atlas and Golf SportWagen

Most of Volkswagen’s sales didn’t fare nearly as well as the Tiguan and Golf SportWagen (more on that momentarily). Year-on-year and even month-on-month for December, sales of nearly every VW model available in the U.S. were down. That is, except for these two models: the Tiguan and the Golf SportWagen.

Volkswagen introduced the all-new Atlas for 2018 as a replacement for the Touareg, which left American shores this year. It’s also re-positioned against its smaller sibling, the newly-redesigned 2018 Tiguan. December 2017 sales for the Atlas were among the strongest for the entire brand, with 6,070 units sold. For its first model year, the Atlas sold 27,119 units. That makes it VW’s most popular SUV offering.

Also riding high is the Golf SportWagen. While December 2017 sales were down 55.2% versus the same time in 2016, with just 1,493 units sold, the SportWagen did phenomenally for the whole year. For all of 2017, the Golf SportWagen sold 26,700 units – a 71.6% increase over 2016.

Worth an honorable mention is, in fact, the new Tiguan, which also did well. Volkswagen shifted 21,023 MY 2018 Tiguans, and 5,770 in December alone.

Volkswagen’s 2017 Sales Losers: All other Golfs, VW sedans

While the SportWagen fared great, the rest of the Golf family suffered this year. In December of 2017, GTI sales were down 31.1% versus the same time last year. VW e-Golf sales were down 22.6%. However, the Golf R managed the worst, with a 40% decrease in sales over 2016.

Of course, there is a reason for that. There’s a new Golf R coming in 2018, and VW refreshed the Golf lineup, including the GTI and the Golf R. 2017 model Tiguans also suffered for a similar reason – people seem to be waiting for the new ones.

Also down were VW’s sedans. The Jetta didn’t suffer too badly – it’s year-on-year sales were only down 4.4% (115,808 units). However, its sales in December 2017 were down 44.7% to 7,233 units. The Passat fared worse, with a 16.8% year-on-year drop (60,722 units) and a 58.4% drop in December versus the same time in 2016 (3,015 units). That’s to be expected, given the explosive popularity of crossovers and the waning sedan market.

Stay tuned to TFLcar.com for more sales updates! Subscribe to The Fast Lane Car and TFLnow on YouTube for the latest videos on your favorite new models. Read on here for the Volkswagen’s 2017 sales report.