Diesels grab 81% of Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen sales in June
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jul 1st 2009 at 3:42PM 
General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and everyone else may not think there is much of a market for mainstream diesel vehicles in the United States, but Volkswagen would beg to differ. Since it launched its new generation diesels last fall in the Jetta and earlier this year in the Touareg, they have been selling like hotcakes with June being its best month yet. Last month was the best sales month to date for the Sportwagen with 1,982 sales, a whopping 81 percent of those were equipped with the 2.0-liter TDI four cylinder.
Among the 8,431 Jetta sedans sold in June, 40 percent were also diesel powered. And while the Touareg followed most other SUVs with a 41 percent overall decline to only 330 units in June, 29 percent of those had the 3.0-liter V6 TDI engine. Rabbit sales were down 69 percent in June, but a redesigned Golf is arriving in September including a TDI and, if fuel prices keep climbing through the summer, it could get a huge sales spike as well.
Gallery: Review: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
[Source: Volkswagen]
PRESS RELEASE:
News Release Issued: July 1, 2009 1:39 PM EDT
Clean Diesel Fuels Volkswagen's June Sales
Over 25 percent of sales were Clean Diesel TDI's
HERNDON, Va., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced June 2009 sales of 19,027 units, representing an 18 percent decrease over June 2008. However, Volkswagen's award winning clean diesels posted their best sales month since their re-launch with 5,072 units, representing an impressive 26 percent of total sales.
The Jetta SportWagen once again posted its best sales month ever with sales of 1,982 units. Clean diesel TDI's accounted for 81 percent of SportWagen sales, 40 percent of Jetta sedan sales, and 29 percent of Touareg sales.
"Volkswagen of America is encouraged by the momentum of our clean diesel TDI sales," said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "It appears that U.S. consumers are starting to realize the many benefits of today's clean diesels--vehicles that attain more than 30 percent better fuel economy while emitting 25 percent less greenhouse gas emission, all without sacrificing driving dynamics," Barnes added.
Volkswagen also announced today that they have been named a corporate leader in Strategic Visions Total Quality Index® (TQI). For 2009, Volkswagen has the most models across the segments that were measured than any other brand--New Beetle, Rabbit, Jetta, CC, and Tiguan were all recognized as TQI leaders in their respective segments.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt 6:06PM (7/01/2009)
SHA-ZAM!!!
"but American's don't like diesels" - sheep
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Arno 10:08PM (7/01/2009)
Yep, got me a Jetta TDI in January. Fantastic car!
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Tim 9:53AM (7/03/2009)
Any quality/reliability issues yet? That is the big concern with VW made autos.
Arno 10:36AM (7/03/2009)
No problems in my first 6 months and I owned an older Jetta before this. Never had a problem with VW, solid cars man.
Michael Hippenhammer 4:51AM (7/02/2009)
And VW didn't think they could sell TDI's in America. When I was selling VW's last year at least 20% of the people that walked in asked about the TDI's and when we said we didn't have any they turned around and walked out. Many of them were past VW diesel owners dreading the fact that the Toyota and Honda had the only choices for high mpg cars. The American car companies ship diesels to Europe from here that we can't buy but, could turn the American car companies around.
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Throwback 10:04AM (7/02/2009)
"The American car companies ship diesels to Europe from here that we can't buy but, could turn the American car companies around."
What diesel powered American cars are made in the US, and shipped to Europe?
Throwback 10:05AM (7/02/2009)
"The American car companies ship diesels to Europe from here that we can't buy but, could turn the American car companies around."
What diesel powered American cars are made in the US, and shipped to Europe?
Michael Hippenhammer 12:50PM (7/02/2009)
All Jeep products, Crysler 300's, Cadillac STS Sport coups and more. Ford of Europe makes their own in Europe and some GM products get their engines from Opel. When you go to Europe you would be suprised at how many American cars have diesels.
Sam 4:54AM (7/02/2009)
Good for them, bring the Tiguan TDI and Vw Might be the worlds biggest automaker by end of 2009. :-)
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Gabriel 8:04AM (7/02/2009)
That's fantastic news! My wife has the 2006 Jetta TDi and I prefer driving it over my Civic. With the Honda Insight being ranked #21 out of #22 by Consumer Reports recently, I hope they reconsider the choice to go with Hybrids over Diesels as I would absolutely love an Accord oil burner. Long live the German diesels! They know what's up! :)
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Rick 4:30PM (7/02/2009)
On the heels of 6 automakers saying they turn their noses up to diesel. Perfect timing with perfect numbers. It seems the Germans will lead the diesel migration here in the states. Audi, BMW, VW and Mercedes all have diesel options now.
I love me some BMW twin turbo diesel.
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Shelley 12:08AM (7/03/2009)
can you run it on Biodiesel?
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Dellerbe 12:53AM (7/03/2009)
I drive still drive an -03 dodge 2wd 4door 2500 with NV4500 manual tranxmission and routinely get 600 miles between fillups. THats including pulling a 16ft trailer with small kubota tractor/loader on occasion. (good driving habits found on Cummins website) I get no less than 19.4mpg and no more than 20.5 on the whole tank of fuel regardless of city/highway!
Not to mention its paid for! Don't get me wrong,, it suffers from low quality standards of dodge body/interior, upper control arms, but for the the most part dodge kept it simple on the chassis and running gear. Its seems pretty durable.
Give me a mahindra truck with a similar Bosch HPCR fuel system and I might consider a future purchase....
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Gene 5:12PM (7/06/2009)
I have the 2006 4wd 6 sp manual Dodge/Cummins and a Civic Hybrid. The Dodge gets 18 to 21 mpg no matter what I haul or pull. This trusk is driven hard. With 40,000 miles this vehicle has never needed any work and was defect free from the factory. It is my 1st USA vehicle ever and ironically the most reliable. I love my 2008 Civic, 48 to 52 mpg, but it has already been in for warranty service twice with only 15,000 miles.
Can't wait try out the Mahindra! I wish it came with a manual trans.
BlendyWee 4:57PM (7/12/2009)
I've got a 2005 Golf TDI which I run on 99.9% biodiesel. Car gets 45 mpg and runs great but is sometimes expensive to maintain, like when I had to replace the cam shaft. VW makes a diesel Polo model in Europe that gets 75 mpg - we should definitely get access to the same stuff they're selling overseas, Detroit has been keeping this stuff from us.
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Liz 9:36PM (7/14/2009)
Just be careful and research what you are getting, especially if it is used. In my experience, one out of every two VWs are total lemons. Weird, unexpected issues with those cars that end up costing you a fortune. My TDI has stranded me on the side of the road more times than I'd like to recall. I keep fixing it thinking it can't happen again. Last VW for me. I wish more makers were selling diesels here.
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