BERLIN: Volkswagen yesterday said sales of cars with the VW badge fell 5.3 percent in October as the global pollution cheating storm engulfing the firm hit European demand.
“The Volkswagen passenger cars brand is experiencing challenging times. We not only face the diesel and CO2 issues but also tense situations on world markets,” said Juergen Stackmann, chief of the VW brand.
“In western Europe, the temporary sales stops for vehicles affected by the diesel issue had an impact on sales,” he added.
Deliveries slipped 1.3 percent in western Europe compared with a year ago, with weakening demand seen in Germany, Spain and Italy.
Global sales were lifted by its biggest market, China, where deliveries rose 1.8 percent to 233,500 cars last month.
VW is struggling to cope with the biggest crisis of its history over its admission in September that it had fitted 11 million vehicles with devices designed to cheat pollution tests.
The so-called defeat devices turn on pollution controls when the car is undergoing testing, and off when it is back on the road, allowing it to spew out harmful levels of nitrogen oxide.
The revelations have sparked investigations in several countries but they turned out to only be the beginning as VW last week admitted it also understated carbon emissions, for 800,000 vehicles.
