It’s safe to say that 2017 was definitely a good year for Volkswagen. The company posted record sales for the year, riding record sales in deliverables in November and December. Registrations for VWs, as well as nameplates Audi and Porsche jumped 8.2 percent in October to 940,800 cars, extending the 10-month gain to 3.2 percent or 8.75 million.
That’s quite a turn around for a company analysts had once predicted to have terminal status following its Dieselgate scandal.
“All brands have most recently developed strongly,”chief executive Matthias Mueller told Reuters. “And I trust that also the two remaining months will confirm the strong trend. And that we will be able to finish the year 2017 on a new record.”
Sales have bounced back in the US as well. Following the Dieselgate scandal, Jeff Williams wondered how his Lansing Volkswagen dealership would survive. He had cut down from four salespeople to two. But now that sales have ramped up, he’s back up to four again, he told the New York Times.
Reliability and the Road to Success
Our VW mechanics knew they had it in them. Volkswagens are great cars known for great reliability and low repair needs. It’s no wonder they’ve been able to recover.
“On the issue of culture change, progress is in part still dragging,” Mueller stated. “In many places we are still too slow, too bureaucratic and too hierarchical.”
The company is still struggling to hammer out union problems, but strong sales definitely help.
“We are in part divided on how quickly the whole thing (reforms) should happen,” VW brand chief Herbert Diess was quoted by Handelsblatt as saying.
