VW Sees U.S. Sales Continuing at Current Pace for Rest of 2013

Volkswagen of America says to expect more of the same in the final months of the year when it comes to the pace of U.S. sales.

VW-brand July deliveries totaled 35,779 units, down 7.2% from year-ago on a daily-rate basis and bringing its year-to-date volume 1.3% short of the like-2012 pace. This July had 25 selling days, compared with 24 year-ago.

Recent press reports indicated the auto maker was lowering its U.S. targets for the year, and while not addressing that directly, Chief Operating Officer Mark McNabb tells reporters in a conference call that he sees the rest of the year continuing at a pace “like we’re talking today.

“We see us steady,” he adds. “We continue to fight through the industry. It’s a very competitive industry; a lot of great product out there. But we see our numbers basically steady, very flat, year over year. So we continue to go at it day in and day out.”

McNabb says the auto maker knew it would be a “year of consolidated growth” for the brand, given the wind-down of the current-generation Golf model and the phase-out of the Routan.

“We think it’s good to keep in perspective where we came from. We’ve had three pretty big years of consecutive growth. We’re coming off some pretty strong numbers.”

VWA says sales of its diesel-powered TDI lineup, which accounted for nearly 40% of Passat sales and 80% of Jetta SportWagon deliveries in the month, continue to be a bright spot. Overall, TDI models account for about 30% of VW-brand sales in July.

The Passat posted another strong month overall, setting a new July high and maintaining a record pace year-to-date. Beetle sales, getting a boost from the convertible model, jumped 77.7% daily. The Jetta SportWagon also was in high demand, with sales up 17.7% by volume.

Cross/utility vehicle sales were soft, with Tiguan down 26.5% and Toureg off 21.8% on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, Audi sales rose 7.1% daily on 13,064 units, despite the A3 being completely out of the lineup ahead of a redesign. The performance brought year-to-date volume up 13.6%.

Car sales were down 5.9% for the brand, with truck deliveries up 38.5% on strong Q5 and Q7 demand.

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