General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group led the industry with 19-percent sales increases over last September while Nissan enjoyed a healthy 18.5 percent gain over last year during September. Toyota sales rose 2 percent last month, but vehicle sales fell last month for Ford, which was down 3 percent, and Volkswagen, which reported a monthly decline in sales of 18.6 percent from last year.
VW said its sold 7,280 of its Chattanooga-made Passat cars during September, or 7.8 percent less than in the same month a year ago. In the first three quarters of 2014, Passat sales were down 11.1 percent from the same period in 2013.
In September, the Passat TDI, the only clean diesel in the midsize sedan segment, delivered 1,720 sales or 23.6 percent of the total Passat volume.
Overall, Volkswagen sales are off 14 percent this year - the biggest drop on any major auto maker.
Volkswagen of America said today it sold 8,990 units of its refreshed Jetta, which was recently named aTop Safety Pick + vehicle by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The all-new, seventh generation Golf continues its strong sales pace and earning accolades through the month of September. September sales included 1,887 Golf units and 1,600 of the Golf GTIs. Popular Mechanics recently called the Golf TSI "the best car you can buy for $20, 000," and Car and Driver named the Golf GTI the winner in a comparison test with the Subaru Impreza WRX.
"The accolades keep rolling in for the all-new 2015 Golf and Golf GTI and we're thrilled to see the excitement make its way into showrooms as well," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer for Volkswagen of America.
While August sales were fueled by incentives on midsize cars, September saw good deals on pickup trucks for most U.S. car makers. The second half of the year is usually stronger for pickup sales, and stable gas prices, employment gains and higher consumer confidence bodes well for automakers this year.
GM and Chrysler took advantage of Ford, which has temporarily closed a truck factory to retool for its new aluminum-clad F-150. Ford cut back on discounts in order to keep more trucks in stock during the shutdown. As a result, GM said its light-duty Silverado outsold Ford's F-150 for the first month since 2011.