Volkswagen brand sales worldwide edged downward in March and in the first quarter, the German automaker reported today.
The company with a production plant in Chattanooga sold 1.48 million vehicles, down 1.3 percent from a year ago in the quarter.
For March, sales were off less than 1 percent at 558,600 globally, according to VW.
"The demanding conditions on markets in South America, above all Brazil, and on the Russian market again impacted the delivery performance of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, our core brand, in March. In contrast, the brand gained ground in some cases quite significantly in Western Europe, particularly in Spain, UK and Germany," said Christian Klingler, board member for sales and marketing for the Volkswagen Group, in a statement.
The brand delivered 136,400 units, up less than 1 percent, in the North America region, in the quarter.
In the U.S., sales were off 9.3 percent in the quarter. VW is spending more than $900 million to expand its Chattanooga production plant to assemble a new sport utility vehicle and hire 2,000 people.