Led by Light Trucks, VW and Others Report Strong May

Driven by light truck sales, the auto industry posted another month of sales gains in May. The increases were across the industry as any brand which offers compact or intermediate-sized crossovers, or SUVs posted sales gains of 4 percent or more.

For example, Volkswagen’s sales totaled 31,211 units moved in May. This represented an increase of four percent over last year. It is very much in line with industry-wide sales which reflect sales hikes of about 4.7 percent.

Tiguan Sales Continue Hot Growth

For VW, sales of the all-new 2018 Tiguan totaled 8,579 units. Its best month to date. Sales of the Chattanooga-built Atlas totaled nearly 4,000 vehicles. This means that light trucks or SUVs represent more than 40 percent of the automaker's sales increase for the month of may. For the year, Tiguan and Atlas made up nearly 50 percent of sales, which represents a tremendous improvement over the 13.5 percent in May of last year. The crossovers bolster VW’s rapidly growing family-friendly vehicle segment and show the VW was right to take the plunge against such established favorites as Honda’s Pilot, Toyota’s RAV4 and Highlander, Honda’s CR-V, BMW’s X3 and X5 crossovers and Mercedes-Benz offerings.

For the most part, car sales remained either flat or were down, which has been the case for more than a year. The one bright spot for VW cars is the now-selling 2019 Jetta. Redesigned for 2019, total Jetta sales were 6,821 units. The 2019 Jetta comprised roughly 30 percent of the units sold.

For the year to date, Volkswagen totaled 143,957 vehicles. This represents a 7.5 percent increase over 2017.

”The all-new 2019 Jetta, which launched in May, has been well received. We’re excited to build momentum with this vehicle and look forward to having the all-new Jetta, with its bold design and innovative features, as part of our strong offering of vehicles for the summer months ahead,” Derrick Hatami, executive vice president of sales, marketing, and after-sales for Volkswagen of America.

Further, Hatami noted that the automaker had its “best month to date” for the 2018 Tiguan “as we continue to see encouraging numbers for our grouping lineup of family-friendly SUVs.”

2019 Jetta Sales Start Off Quickly

Sales of the 2019 Jetta began in the early part of the month with deliveries starting in mid-month. To support the new model, VW has created a fully integrated marketing campaign.Betta Getta Jetta campaign The campaign began alongside the vehicle’s release.

For the 2018 model year, most new Volkswagen vehicles in the U.S. will come with the refer here a six-year or 72,000-mile (whichever occurs first) bumper-to-bumper New Vehicle Limited Warranty. The warranty transfers to subsequent owners throughout its duration. It's the People First Warranty. VW program puts people first.

Sources: VW, research