Volkswagen of America is happy to report best ever month and YTD sales for the Passat sedan and its TDI lineup. However, the overall picture after June 2013 is a little somber. The Golf and the GTI are seeing big double digit declines, as did the CC, Tiguan, and the Touareg. How can VW recover?
The North American market is waiting for Volkswagen’s giant Puebla, Mexico factory to be retooled for the next 7th generation Golf, GTI, and the new SportWagen. We are also waiting for a new Silao, Mexico plant to start producing the new EA888 1.8- and 2.0-liter turbo engines. These changes cannot come soon enough. The 2015 Golf, GTI, and SportWagen are desperately needed to revitalize sales. If only VW can start importing these new cars from Europe?
The Jetta and the Passat are still doing well. The 2014 Jetta will also receive the new 1.8T engine, and the Jetta Hybrid sales are ramping up. VW should continue to expand and refresh the Passat line. They cannot simply rest on the success of the current car. We know that Passat Wagon is out of the question, but Passat “Performance” model with a high output 250 horsepower turbo motor would be a nice addition.
We do not know much about the Tiguan redesign, and it’s unclear how to stop the bleeding for the Touareg sales. Perhaps, this is an issue with pricing? However, we have seen Vw’s large 7-passenger crossover “CrossBlue” in Detroit this year. We know that Volkswagen is preparing a production version of the CrossBlue, and this would be a great way to inject new life into their crossover/SUV sales.
May I also suggest to bring the VW Polo? Volkswagen needs something to battle the Ford Fiesta, Chevy Sonic, and other sub-compact hatches. And how about the VW Bulli?
Volkswagen June 2013 Sales Chart
| June 2013 # | June ’13 / ’12 % | YTD 2013 # | YTD ’13 / ’12 % | |
| Golf | 1,277 | -40.2% | 9,062 | -8.8% |
| GTI | 1,169 | -22.5% | 6,551 | -27.1% |
| Jetta | 12,960 | 11.7% | 70,511 | -2.8% |
| SportWagen | 1,853 | -7.6% | 10,785 | 0.9% |
| Beetle | 3,780 | 29.7% | 21,187 | 67.4% |
| Passat | 10,874 | 6.1% | 56,119 | 1.9% |
| CC | 1,209 | -35.0% | 8,243 | -5.9% |
| Tiguan | 2,452 | -15.0% | 15,526 | 3.9% |
| Touareg | 642 | -19.1% | 4,330 | -4.1% |
Check out TFLcar insider video of the CrossBlue reveal:
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, writer, reporter, and software engineer. He has been a contributor at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or simply ‘going for a drive’.
