VW Passat sales down 19 percent so far this year

Sales of the Chattanooga-built Passat in February were 19.3 percent below year-ago levels, Volkswagen said today.

VW said it sold 6,997 Passats last month, including 1,697 of its diesel-powered Passat TDI. A year ago, VW sold 7,532 Passats, but last year included better weather.

Overall Volkswagen sales in the U.S. totaled 27,112 vehicles, down 16.3 percent from the same time a year ago.

"February was an expectedly modest month with the wind down of outgoing models and the fewest number of selling days," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer of Volkswagen of America. "Nonetheless, we are pleased to see our core vehicles and TDI Clean Diesels continue to show strength in the market. With a full range of fuel-efficient vehicles, seven of which deliver more than 40 mpg on the highway, we anticipate steady demand as we enter the spring selling season."

So far in 2014, Passat sales have totaled 13,213, or 19.4 percent less than in the start of 2013.

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