VW Sales Crash Nearly 20%

[csv8]

Volkswagen’s sales have plummeted by almost 20 per cent following its controversial recall of nearly 26,000 cars.

Andrew McKellar, executive director of the Australian Automobile Association, said motorists “have voted with their feet”.

“Volkswagen paid a price for the way in which they handled the recall issue and the fact that they didn’t come out and deal with that issue... in an open, honest and more transparent way.”

“It’s a reminder to all vehicle builders that they need to be open and honest with their customers.
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“If they try to handle these issues with corporate spin the market will judge them very harshly.”

According to official sales figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the brand sold 1226 fewer cars compared with the same period last year, a 19 per cent drop.

In contrast, the Australian car market as a whole was up by 5.5 per cent.

The figures showed Volkswagen’s Golf and Jetta models were hit the hardest, with drops of more than 50 per cent.

Dr Paul Harrison, senior lecturer in branding and marketing at Deakin university said the drop was “massive”, but did not come as a surprise.

“The issue is about perception,” he said.

“It will take quite a while for people to regain that sense of trust, you can’t just paper over it.”

Volkswagen recalled thousands of its Golf, Jetta, Polo and Passat models amid customer complaints surrounding safety and reliability.

The brand’s Australian arm had resisted calls to fix its cars despite Volkswagen issuing widespread recalls in China, Japan and Singapore.

Consumer complaints were sparked by a Victorian coronial inquest into the death of Melissa Ryan, who died in a collision while driving her Volkswagen on the Monash freeway.

A Volkswagen spokesman said the brand has “noticed a drop in Volkswagen passenger vehicle sales for June” but said commercial vehicles sales were strong.

The Toyota Hilux was the best selling car in June, followed by the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Hyundai i30 and Mitsubishi Triton.

Toyota remains on top in the sales race, ahead of Holden, Hyundai, Ford and Mazda.
http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/mo...703-2pbye.html
My comment : maybe car makers will go back to proven auto transmissions????

[MethodX]

Like..... yayyy

[malazn mafia]

The 20% was probably all the Golf owners who saw the new Golf that looked just like the old one and went 'meh, why bother upgrading'... Sadly this is probably what happened between BF and FG.

[GQ_Smooth]

Can't agree with the article more, to me, the Australian consumer was treated with indifference (even contempt in some cases, where legal action by VW was threatened) compared to other markets where the recall was done much sooner. I only know 4 people that have/had VW's all 4 have had quality issues and all 4 will never buy another (not really much of a survey I know, but word of mouth is pretty strong).

I thank my mechanic every time I see him talking me out of a VW.

[BJB]

So, what does VW do when the car is recalled? Kick the tyres and give it back, fit a new transmission?

My daughter bought a 2008 Polo auto ( 16.5 K's) that has been very good ( strong little car that withstood being T boned by a learner driver in a Mercedes where the side curtain air bags deployed and she walked away. All the doors still shut,...like a Golf )

[Rodge]

And if VW think the public will forget quickly they are in fantasy land. They can quite rightly, (in my opinion) expect serious brand damage for a considerable period to come.

[Alan D Segal]

Meanwhile at VW...

[DJM83]

I have a family member who works at VW. I feel for him, their sales have dropped somewhat. Hopefully it's not to the point of being put off.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I have a family member who works at VW. I feel for him, their sales have dropped somewhat. Hopefully it's not to the point of being put off.

"Yay a company is losing money which may potentially lead to a whole heap of grief both directly and indirectly to lots of totally innocent people but not me".

Sometimes I am disgusted by the attitudes of some of the members on here.....

[GQ_Smooth]

Originally Posted by flappist

"Yay a company is losing money which may potentially lead to a whole heap of grief both directly and indirectly to lots of totally innocent people but not me".

Sometimes I am disgusted by the attitudes of some of the members on here.....

It's unfortunate that innocent parties will be affected due to decisions or a lack of decision by management. Would you prefer VW do nothing and potentially have more life threatening incidents occur. Whats a loss of a potential life hear and there so long as business still goes on.

I don't see anything wrong with members attitude on this topic, If anything I would have a problem with your comment if these issues occured to any of my family/close friends. Consumers will still be buying the same volume of cars, just not as many from VW.

[Rodge]

VW chose to shoot themselves in the foot with a Magnum 44 and we are supposed to feel sorry for them and now the sales-people concerned

Plenty of work available with other more reputeable marque's... BTW, VW own a number of other brands, many of which sell for ludicrously over-inflated prices so I'm pretty sure they won't be going broke anytime soon !!

[Road Games]

Is it just me ?

Or has this place recently been all about bashing other car brands because members no longer feel the need to bash a dissapearing icon ?

I have to wonder what forum i have logged onto some days...

Lets try this, how about discussing all things FORD for a change and have a POSITIVE news day once in a while...leave all the negative car crap in the news where it belongs...

just sayin'/ i could be wrong/ as you were...

[csv8]

Originally Posted by JET270

Is it just me ?

Or has this place recently been all about bashing other car brands because members no longer feel the need to bash a dissapearing icon ?

I have to wonder what forum i have logged onto some days...

Lets try this, how about discussing all things FORD for a change and have a POSITIVE news day once in a while...leave all the negative car crap in the news where it belongs...

just sayin'/ i could be wrong/ as you were...

The Pub For General Automotive Related Talk its not just Ford talk..any auto is fair game..

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Rodge

VW chose to shoot themselves in the foot with a Magnum 44 and we are supposed to feel sorry for them and now the sales-people concerned

Plenty of work available with other more reputeable marque's... BTW, VW own a number of other brands, many of which sell for ludicrously over-inflated prices so I'm pretty sure they won't be going broke anytime soon !!

Yeah what because the foreman in a dealer was responsible for the DSG failures.
Get real.

[TheSneakiness]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Yeah what because the foreman in a dealer was responsible for the DSG failures.
Get real.

No, but he's become collateral damage because of it.

[Alan D Segal]

Originally Posted by Rapid_Axe

No, but he's become collateral damage because of it.

"Could become" is more appropriate. People here are getting upset about something that hasn't happened yet. Everyone just relax a bit. Did people expect anything different to happen? People obviously want reliable cars - brands like Toyota have capitalised on it and VW is being stung by being on the other side of it at the moment.

[Rodge]

Next people will be saying we are supposed to feel sorry for all the VW mechanics becuase they have to work so much overtime...
We live in such a PC world its getting ludicrous. You can't tell me the sales manager of a VW franchise didn't know bloody well about all the dodgy shonky gearboxes ages ago...

[GQ_Smooth]

The service department at all VW dealers should be flat out taking care of 25,000 vehicles that are part of the recall. If they have no work I would say something is going extremely wrong with communication between VW Australia and it's dealers.

[davocol]

Welcome to the internet Flappist, Malcolm Turnbull hopes you enjoy your stay.

Originally Posted by flappist

"Yay a company is losing money which may potentially lead to a whole heap of grief both directly and indirectly to lots of totally innocent people but not me".

Sometimes I am disgusted by the attitudes of some of the members on here.....

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Next people will be saying we are supposed to feel sorry for all the VW mechanics becuase they have to work so much overtime...
We live in such a PC world its getting ludicrous. You can't tell me the sales manager of a VW franchise didn't know bloody well about all the dodgy shonky gearboxes ages ago...

Like everything accepting that job losses and/or other collateral damage are the result of an event of some kind is a completely different thing to celebrating it.

One of the interesting things about forums is that by watching interactions over a period of time you can attain a fairly comprehensive insite into the attitudes, aptitudes and mindsets of individuals.

[Alan D Segal]

Originally Posted by flappist

insite into the attitudes, aptitudes and mindsets of individuals.

If you're going to act all clever and psychology student-like it is 'insight'. Cheers have a great arvo.

[Rodge]

Its not just DSG's by any means !! VW have been playing hardball with customers over many issues Flappist, for example I hear they've all but put their heads in the sand over diesel particulate filter problems with diesel engines and have been rorting some customers on the basis that a malfunctioning DPF filter is a consumeable item... that'll be X thousand dollars, thanks. To the best of my klnowledge they were one of the first copmpany's to specifically exclude these potentially highly problematic filters from their warranty cover...many customers are never told that a diesel equipped with a DPF filter is fundamentally unsuited to repeated short urban journeys, either deliberatly or through salesman's ignorance.

This is a company that's reaping what they've sowed and sometimes its not an unpleasant experience to see the principals of natural justice being played out...one of the rare times in such a public manner. Perhaps it takes someone who's been through five months of hell trying to get serious issues like those affecting VW sorted with another European manufacturer to have an in depth understanding of the issue from a customers perspective.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Next people will be saying we are supposed to feel sorry for all the VW mechanics becuase they have to work so much overtime...
We live in such a PC world its getting ludicrous. You can't tell me the sales manager of a VW franchise didn't know bloody well about all the dodgy shonky gearboxes ages ago...

So your a VW dealer principal now eh. Never made an error of judgement under pressure or a bad decision it seems.
How'd you feel if it were you that lost your job through no fault of your own. It's as if your celebrating this event. I've never lost my job and don't want to, nor do I wish it on anyone, it hasnt got to that point yet thankfully.

[Rodge]

Anyone who's been on the receiving end of months and months and months of absolute hell trying to get a serious issue with their Euro car sorted while the manufacturer endlessly procrastinates and prevaricates will understand my perspective.

[JG34JA]

As a little historical aside, Ford were in exactly the same position upon releasing the XK Falcon in 1960-1 - fragile front suspensions gave the vehicle a bad reputation and it took a very long time and some incredible PR exercises (think: Bill Bourke's 70,000 XP durability run at the You Yangs) to reverse that perception.

It will be interesting to see how quickly VW Australia is forgiven.

It may not be very fashionable, but one of the reasons I chose to buy an Aussie made Ford was the simple ruggedness of its drivetrain, and the many years of proven durability...

[jpd80]

There but for the grace of god goes Ford and its powershift DSG.

We shouldn't take any delight in another company's misfortune or worse customer and staff misery.
Mistakes and problems occur all the time with most makes, what's important is how a company deals
with issues like this and how they treat their customers and make good on any shortfalls in quality and satisfaction.

I only hope that for the sake of the industry, that VW gets on top of its problems and settles all issues pronto..

[SS_01]

JPD80....Well said.

I will buy another Volksy, probably mid next year, a GTI in White. My preference is Manual, but thats the same with all my cars. Any issues I have ever had with my previous GTI were swiftly rectified by my dealer. In fact, i started working with the Company after I purchased my old GTI, it was the perfect little car, and I wish I never sold it. The cars that I have purchased since, a BF XR6 and a 2010 Ford Fiesta Zetec were both considerably worse to live with as an everyday car.

Maybe its cause I know people within Volksy, but my perception of them hasnt changed, they are still one of the best cars to own.

[SS_01]

Forgot to mention as well, the Sales being down wouldnt have been a direct bearing on what they actually sold during the month. The only cars that are counted, are cars that have been registered and delivered, and often with VW, the cars that are ordered for a month are forward orders.

[mr smith]

VW = Overrated.

[deesun]

And Ford have always handled issues with their cars appropriately. BA front brakes and handbrake? The ostriches from each company will be able to chat through the sand.