Volkswagen has weathered its diesel emissions crisis well so far – at least from a business perspective in the US. Sales in September grew 0.56 percent, and October's numbers showed essentially no change with just with a 0.24-percent gain thanks to help from incentives. The market is so strong that dealers now report they don't have enough vehicles to keep up with the surging demand, according to Automotive News.
To keep people interested, VW offered current customers a $2,000 loyalty bonus, and some models had incentives as high as $4,200. The tactics worked. The German brand had just 48-day supply of new vehicles at the end of October, Automotive News reported citing TrueCar data. That was the automaker's lowest stock in the last 12 months, and the figure even included diesels with a stop sale.
The groundswell in demand means some VW models are very difficult to purchase right now. For example, the production switch for the refreshed 2016 Passat makes supply of the sedan low at the moment, and dealers have few 2015s left. Showrooms also can't keep up with Tiguan interest after a 167-percent sales spike in October.
The sustained sales help showrooms survive VW's crisis, but there's a problem just on the horizon. The automaker already set the model allocation for dealers through mid-December, Automotive News reported. They might not get enough replacement vehicles to offset the brisk demand, and it could mean even tighter inventories for the next few weeks.
