Volkswagen diesel sales solid 14 months after scandal
Fresh sales figures highlight growth of German marque’s diesel models in some segmentsVolkswagen Australia says changing consumer tastes and reduced model availability have caused a slight downturn in demand for its diesel passenger range in Australia – not the 'dieselgate' scandal that has rocked the car-maker globally.
Fourteen months since the German marque was found to have fitted illegal emissions cheating devices in some of its diesel vehicles, motoring.com.au has obtained previously undisclosed industry figures which outline the full diesel breakdown of every model sold in Australia.
The numbers reveal a slowing in diesel sales across Volkswagen’s entire passenger and SUV portfolio – which widely reflects industry trends – and shows customers have not been driven away from the VW badge as much as the initial shockwaves of the scandal may have suggested.
In the case of Volkswagen’s diesel-heavy commercial range, sales are up at record levels.
The figures show that diesel models now comprise 10.4 per cent of total Volkswagen passenger sales in Australia -- down from 38.4 per cent in 2010.
While that appears like a seismic decline, industry figures offer some perspective: diesel models now make up just 4.3 per cent of passenger car vehicle sales in Australia, down from 7.7 per cent in 2010.
According to Volkswagen Australia general manager of corporate communications, Paul Pottinger, the fall in diesel demand is in line with industry-wide trends that materialised well before the emissions cheating scandal broke out in September 2015.
“It’s clear that as a percentage of overall passenger vehicle sales, diesel has been falling off steadily since 2010,” he said.
“We dropped the diesel Polo some years ago for lack of sales. So too other lines, such as the Golf GTD.
“With Golf, the biggest single drop off in diesel this decade happened in the first full year of Mark 7 sales (2014) – almost eight per cent down on the previous year. That’s largely due to then-new 1.4-litre turbo-petrol range and the heavy Australian demand for 2.0-litre GTI.”
The biggest drop off in Volkswagen’s diesel products has come in the form of the Passat mid-size passenger car – which went from 50.6 per cent of overall sales to 34.1 per cent in the space of a year.
Pottinger cited the introduction of the petrol-powered 132 TSI Passat, which is $10,000 cheaper than the equivalent 140 TDI diesel entry model, as the major reason for this.
One area where Volkswagen hasn’t followed market trends is in its diesel SUV range, which has fallen by 3.5 per cent in 12 months. Overall, the proportion of diesel SUV sales in Australia is up 1.1 per cent through the first 10 months of 2016.
“In terms of the new Tiguan, we offer three petrol versions to two diesels, because the petrol engines offer such a breadth of ability – 110TSI, the new 2.0-litre 132TSI and the Golf GTI’s 162TSI. The latter arrives next month. Already we have 1055 orders for 162TSI. So, the market is speaking,” Pottinger said.
“While Touareg is our oldest and most expensive model, it’s now 100 per cent diesel yet still does 200-plus sales a month.”
The silver lining for Volkswagen comes in the form of its commercial range, which is in line for a record year of sales in 2016.
The growth is reinforced by the take-up of diesel-only commercial models, including the Multivan (up 28.3 per cent YTD), Amarok 4x4 (up 0.6 per cent) and Crafter (up 20.5 per cent).
Volkswagen also recently crowned its Amarok utility range with a new V6 diesel option. At the launch of the new model last month, stakeholders claimed there were more than 7300 registered prospective customers.
Diesel vehicle sales breakdown:
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | YTD Oct 2016 | ||
| Industry passenger diesel | 7.7% | 8.0% | 7.8% | 6.5% | 5.7% | 4.7% | 4.3% | |
| VW passenger diesel | 38.4% | 34.1% | 29.6% | 22.1% | 15.2% | 11.1% | 10.4% | |
| Golf diesel | 28.1% | 25.8% | 24.4% | 18.2% | 10.6% | 7.5% | 6.7% | |
| Passat diesel | 58.7% | 63.5% | 59.3% | 51.8% | 44.1% | 50.6% | 34.1% | |
| Industry SUV diesel | 33.9% | 35.5% | 38.8% | 38.3% | 36.2% | 32.7% | 33.8% | |
| VW SUV diesel | 54.4% | 42.2% | 44.1% | 53.8% | 46.6% | 41.5% | 38.0% | |
| Tiguan diesel | 51.7% | 33.5% | 28.3% | 34.5% | 23.3% | 17.3% | 8.3% | |
| Touareg diesel | 98.4% | 96.7% | 97.8% | 99.9% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
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