VW passat sales growing but still lags behind competition

vwtdi4ever

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Here is an article from motor trend's website about mid size car sales in America this year.

In a month of mid-size sales where most competitors didn’t change–eight out of our ten competitors didn’t change in the rankings–a small skirmish has formed between three American cars. Yes, the Toyota Camry still won the mid-size competition, but the Chrysler 200, Chevrolet Malibu, and Dodge Avenger made the battle interesting.

Once again, the top four midsizers stayed in the same competitive place in the month of March. The Toyota Camry came in first, selling 42,567 units last month. It’s an amazing showing for the Camry, but the model still faces stiff competition from the second-place entrant, the Nissan Altima. The Altima sold 41,050 cars last month, just 1517 fewer than the Camry. That’s been the name of Nissan’s game of late, considering that the separation between the Camry and Altima last month was also under 1600 units. We look forward to Nissan bringing bigger guns to the fight later this year, when it puts the new 2013 Altima on sale.

Third and fourth places went to the Ford Fusion and Honda Accord, which sold 28,562 units and 26,771 units, respectively. Both cars have impending redesigns as well: the Ford Fusion is headed to dealerships in the second half of this year, and Honda recently showed an Accord Concept at the Detroit Auto Show.

Coming in at fifth place was the combination of the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger. The duo earned a combined 24,276 sales last month. The 200 accounted for 14,914 of those sales, while the Avenger made up the remaining 9362. This was enough to push the two twins from a combined seventh place last month to fifth place this month. Some of this could be due to Chrysler’s high incentive spending: the 200 and Avenger both presently have $3000 on the hood, the highest in the segment.

The Hyundai Sonata sold 23,281 units last month, good enough for sixth place, while its Kia Optima sibling sold 15,008 units, earning it eighth place. The two have grown in volume but have stayed in roughly the same competitive place in recent history.

Seventh place went to the Chevrolet Malibu. While the Malibu posted a great 54 percent year-over-year sales increase, it sold just 19,035 units, placing it dead last among the American competitors. Chevrolet’s 2013 Malibu is due to hit dealers some time this year, however, so expect this to shake up the Bowtied sedan’s numbers to edge up.

The Volkswagen Passat and Mazda 6 earned ninth and tenth place, respectively. The new Passat had its best month on record, selling 10,032 units, while the Mazda6 sold 7855 units, up a staggering 90 percent from a year ago. Both the German and Japanese contenders are experiencing good growth this year, but still have a ways to go until they will truly compete with the powerhouses from Nissan or Ford.
 

eprater1

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numbers published today showed VW as a hole up by 30% this month. that is amazing growth but would rather them be a bit obsucre and not the "next camry." if i see one everytime i turn around i will be tempted get rid of it.
 

vwtdi4ever

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numbers published today showed VW as a hole up by 30% this month. that is amazing growth but would rather them be a bit obsucre and not the "next camry." if i see one everytime i turn around i will be tempted get rid of it.
I'm gonna have to agree with you. I like being the only one around with a new passat. Everyone else drives fusions,200's and malibu's around here. I don't like being a me too car owner. But alas VW wants to sell a lot more cars here so some day we are gonna be just like the Joneses.
 

cookeze

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Car guys drive VW TDI's and BMW's in the mid-size class. Camry's sell to folks who just want a car will a good track record. Toyota has done a good job with this kind of buyer. I think VW has the right idea and they need to stick with it. The Jetta Hybrid is a good example. This is what the average guy has been sold on. Get him into a VW and then he'll see the difference. He will then tell others and they'll tell others. I came out of a 2008 BMW 335i convertible and I'm really surprised at how similar they are in driving dynamics. And, my Passat TDI SEL looks good next to my C6 Corvette!!
 

MyAvocation

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The Volkswagen Passat and Mazda 6 earned ninth and tenth place, respectively.
Makes one wonder how the numbers would shake out if Chattanooga wasn't the bottleneck. 40K units is way out of their league at least for the next several years.
 
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APT

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I think TDIs are the bottleneck. Plenty of gas engine Passats at every dealer, or within 250 mile trade range. It is selling well with moderate growth. I think it's great.

Two coworkers have complimented on my Passat and sparked conversations. Great to get the word out on them.
 

Niner

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I have yet to see another 2012 Passat TDI in 2100 miles of travel, and I've only seen 2 others 2012 Passats, both of them were gas.
 

VeeDubTDI

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I've seen several Passat TDIs around here... at least a dozen. I'd say 50% of the new Passat's I have seen on the road have been TDIs.
 

Niner

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There used to be Eco diesels running around here, more than a few. But now, they are scarce, along with B4 Passat's and A3 Jetta's. Worn out or statistics, but almost always rust free.
 

tdiclubfan

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Do you think a lot of people still believe the VW = unreliable myth?
 
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The only problems I have heard of about VW are the HPFPs on the TDIs. This is coming from a guy who still drives an air-cooled VW as a toy. Lots of my friends have newer TDIs and older ones with no problems.
 

VeeDubTDI

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Just stopped by the local VW dearler. Of the 30 Passats on the lot, only one is a TDI (SE DSG, white/beige).
 

Niner

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Just stopped by the local VW dearler. Of the 30 Passats on the lot, only one is a TDI (SE DSG, white/beige).
I see tons of them for sale at dealerships in the North East on Cars.com as well as the VW dealership locator in those areas. Pennsylvania too.
 

Niner

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I found local dealerships were a waste of time. Easier to use the internet, get offers by email, and get 'er done. YMMV, my dealership was only useful for a test drive. Beyond that, getting exactly what I wanted was futile.
 

VeeDubTDI

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That's the impression I'm getting... I just happened to be in the area and figured 30:1 was an interesting statistic.
 

Niner

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You can find dealerships in larger metro's with 4 to 6 TDI passats on the lot. I saw some like that in Golden, CO, Los Angeles, Denver, I guess places in the past that have a good track record of moving a lot of TDI's. Dealer has to know he can move them to carry a lot of inventory of them. Northeast has quite a few VW dealerships I would think that have large tdi customer bases in the past.
 

TomB

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Soon to be new VW owner and I've always heard of electrical problems.
Definitely worth trying my luck on this Passat.
Well with 12 years with VW, with 2 Jettas, 2 Passats and now the 3rd Passat all with 200K miles between them, I have never had electrical issues, so not sure what you are talking about.

I had a brake switch on the 2000 Jetta that had to be replaced, but I don't see that as such an electrical issue.
 

IFRCFI

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Soon to be new VW owner and I've always heard of electrical problems.
My 1980 gasser Rabbit (Westmoreland, PA built) was the worst car I ever owned. Body integrity was terrible...it was just a cheap, crappy car. Wiring harness shorted, melted and caught fire at 60K. Alternator harness rubbed bare against metal, shorted, melted, but didn't catch fire at 80K. Traded it after this repair. It's not a myth from that era, but their quality has improved dramatically. Old news dies slowly...



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

MyAvocation

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Soon to be new VW owner and I've always heard of electrical problems.
A5 Jetta (2005.5-2010) has its share of wiring problems, mostly door harness, engine bay ground points and chafing under the hood.
A4 (1999-2005) has its share too: engine bay grounding and TSBs for brake switch, relay 109, MAF connector, coolant migration to name a few.
 
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VW_JW

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My 99 (A3) Jetta has had all kinds of electrical issues. But I still love the car and drive it daily.
 
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