VW, Audi selling ‘new’ diesel cars in U.S., but not for long
DETROIT Two years after emissions tests cheating catapulted Volkswagen into a global crisis, the automaker again is selling cars with diesel engines in the U.S., but the German brand’s signature offerings won’t be around much longer.
Customers lined up to buy 2-year-old Volkswagen diesel cars when the automaker unexpectedly resumed sales in April.
Many VW customers may still want the fuel-efficient diesels — also called TDIs — but the few thousand left at dealerships after the automaker resolved its emission-fraud crisis are the last the automaker plans to sell in the U.S.
One dealership, Suburban Volkswagen in Troy, Mich., got five offers for every car it had, sales manager John Beauchamp said.
“We had phones ringing off the hook. People love their diesels. I did the only fair thing and sold them on a first-come, first-served basis,” Beauchamp said.
VW dealers had about 11,000 unsold 2015 model year diesels in stock when the U.S. government told them to halt sales in September 2015 because the company cheated on emissions tests. Volkswagen has paid billions of dollars in fines to date and faces further investigations in the U.S. and around the world.
The “new” 2015s now on sale include Beetle coupes and convertibles, Jetta and Passat sedans and Golf hatchbacks and wagons. It’s unclear how many are left after VW reprogrammed them to reduce their emissions to legal levels. And with incentives of $8,500 cash or $5,000 with interest-free six-year loans, they’re selling fast.
“There’s going to be a land rush of diesel fans to get those cars,” said Joe Phillippi, principal of analyst AutoTrends.
That’s despite the fact that fixing the emissions reduced their performance. VW won’t say how much slower the cars are, but the TDI’s fuel economy remains high.
Audi dealers also have a few newly street-legal 2015 TDI diesels. They’re offering 1.9% interest on 66-month loans, according to Green Car Reports.
With demand strong, many Audi and VW dealers are likely to snap up used TDIs they bought back from owners and fixed.