Volkswagen UK market share plummets after emissions scandal as new UK car registrations rise
Volkswagen sales in the UK fell 20 per cent in November, compared with last year, figures by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have shown – while the number of new cars sold in the UK rose.
The embattled carmaker, which has been hit after it emerged software installed in some of its diesel engines allowed them to "cheat" in emissions tests, sold 12,958 cars in the UK in November, down from 16,196 during the same month last year.
However, in the year to date buyers registered 209,369 new VWs, up 4.5 per cent from the 200,353 it sold in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Audi, which has also been affected by the scandal, sold 4.4 per cent fewer cars during November, although in the year to date the number of cars it has sold has risen 4.4 per cent from the same period last year.
The figures showed a total of 178,876 new cars were registered in the UK in November, up 3.8 per cent on the year before, and eight per cent higher than October's figure.
In the first 11 months of the year, the figure rose 6.2 per cent to 2.5m.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said November's figures were a "reminder of the strength of the UK car market".
"Low interest rates and competitive finance deals continue to attract consumers to new car ownership. 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.”
(Source: SMMT)