Volkswagen sales are slumping as the hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company for cheating on emissions tests move closer to the courtroom, the latest in two months of bad news for the German automaker.
Volkswagen of America released sales numbers showing an almost 25 percent drop in year-over-year sales for November 2015. Sales of the Beetle dropped almost 40 percent and sales of the Jetta dropped almost 30 percent.
Other vehicles directly affected by the scandal, such as the Touareg and Passat, dropped 31 percent and 60 percent, respectively.
The company attributed the numbers to the cessation of sales of all “clean diesel” vehicles.
“Volkswagen is working tirelessly on an approved remedy for the affected [clean diesel] vehicles. During this time we would like to thank our dealers and customers for their continued patience and loyalty,” said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer of Volkswagen of America.
Almost 500,000 Volkswagen “clean diesel” vehicles in the United States, and as many as 11 million around the world, are estimated to contain defeat device software that allowed them to cheat on EPA emissions tests.
Defeat devices are about 100,000 lines of software code written into vehicle software. The software identifies when vehicles are in testing conditions and then activates emissions controls on nitrogen oxide.
When not under testing conditions, the vehicles can dump as much as 40 times the legal amount of nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere.
Officials at the German auto giant have said the defeat devices were isolated incidents perpetuated by “rogue” employees in Germany.
The bad news on sales was not limited to the United States. On Friday, Volkswagen reported an almost 20 percent drop in British sales, according to the United Kingdom-based Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
According to the group, 12,958 new Volkswagens were registered in the UK during November, down from 16,196 a year ago.
Volkswagen was one of a handful of car companies to see year-over-year registration drop in the UK. The country as a whole saw a 3.8 percent increase in registrations from November 2014.
Meanwhile, the massive glut of lawsuits filed against Volkswagen are making their way toward federal court.
One of the first steps in that process played out in New Orleans this week as it seemed 64 lawsuits filed against Volkswagen by consumers for cheating Environmental Protection Agency emissions tests with so-called “defeat devices” could be heard in Detroit by the judge that oversaw the city’s bankruptcy case.
Thomas Young, a Tampa lawyer advocating protections for people who come forward about wrongdoings in the auto industry, said momentum seemed to be in favor of the cases being heard by Judge Gerald Rosen in the Eastern District of Michigan.
Other jurisdictions that could be considered are the Northern District of California, Eastern District of Virginia and New Jersey, Young said.
About 470 class-action lawsuits have been filed against Volkswagen, Young reported.
However, the news wasn’t all bad for VW.
In Korea, sales of Volkswagens jumped 377 percent in November as compared to October.
“If we include those buyers who signed a contract in November but haven’t registered their cars yet, the sales figures would rise further. Many people think now is a good time to own a foreign car at bargain,” said Kevin Seo, a Volkswagen Korea representative, told the Wall Street Journal.
