VW sales up as it unveils hippy campervan for the electric age

The German car maker has ridden the diesel-cheating scandal with an increase in sales and has launched an electric version of its famous minibus in a bid to win new customers.

New cars at VW's assembly plant in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. . The company has shrugged off the emissions scandal to post an increase in annual sales for 2016. Tobias Schwarz/ AFP /

The scandal-hit German car maker Volkswagen said it increased sales in 2016, despite strong headwinds after it admitted to cheating on regulatory emissions tests for millions of vehicles.

VW said it had delivered 5.99 million vehicles last year, up 2.8 per cent over 2015.

While sales in the Americas and western Europe fell sharply, the German car firm made inroads in Asia, especially China, it said.

Under pressure from US authorities, VW admitted in September 2015 to installing “defeat devices” – designed to reduce cars’ emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide when the software detected they were undergoing regulatory tests – in 11 million vehicles worldwide.

The scandal, quickly dubbed “dieselgate” by global media, tarnished VW’s reputation and sapped sales.

VW sales in the United States fell 7.6 per cent in 2016, while across South America the company shipped almost 27 per cent fewer vehicles.

Western Europe recorded a more moderate fall of 2 per cent, including a 7.2 per cent decline in home market Germany.

The car maker, however, increased sales in Asia by 11.8 per cent, including a 14 per cent boost in China, while central and eastern Europe reported a 6.9 per cent increase.

Customers in 2016 had “remained loyal to us in challenging times”, said Juergen Stackmann, the head of VW brand sales.

The latest sales figure come as VW laid out a new design for a revived, battery-powered version of its iconic hippie-era campervan as the car maker seeks ways to move beyond its 16-month-old diesel emissions-cheating scandal and will overhaul its US line up in a renewed comeback push.

The new iteration of the van, a concept dubbed the ID Buzz, is part of the VW brand’s strategy to sell cars based on new electric-powering technology as of 2020 and deliver 1 million zero-emission vehicles annually by 2025, the division chief Herbert Diess said. Groupwide, Volkswagen plans deliveries of as many as 3 million battery-powered cars a year by then, with the brand’s North American production of the models starting in 2021.

“We want to reignite America’s love for Volkswagen,” Mr Diess said. “We are determined to to become a relevant and profitable volume manufacturer in the US within the next 10 years,” he said.

The company will be hoping the ID Buzz will help it mitigate what will be a costly outcome from dieselgate.

Last week, it was reported the firm was close to agreeing a US$2 billion fine with the US justice department over the scandal.

VW has already agreed to settle US civil claims for a total of $15.7bn.

Across the Atlantic, European authorities have pressured the car maker to compensate EU customers.

The British law firm Harcus Sinclair UK said on Monday it is launching legal action in Britain against VW, seeking compensation for British drivers.

In Britain, Europe’s second-biggest car market, 1.2 million cars are affected and the law firm, which is being supported by Slater and Gordon, said it would take its case to the High Court and seek compensation for consumers.

The VW group will publish sales figures for all 12 of its brands later this week.

* Agencies

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