There’s a VW Dealership here in SJ, I’ve seen them at that location for ages. Then I noticed while driving past running errands the other day, that while the VW signage remains, there’s no VW vehicles on the lot. At least not as far as I could see. All used Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, and of course quite a few used Ford f150 the Chevy Silverado trucks. I didn’t see one single VW branded vehicle.
OK fine, I won’t drive there looking for a Volkswagen.
Are you suggesting it’s because of the emissions cheating scandal?
The last I heard, VW sales had recovered, and they’re doing quite well again. Their image is still tarnished, but that doesn’t seem to have affected sales in the long run.
Perhaps the dealer in your area was on financially shaky ground for years, and they would have closed shop, scandal or no scandal . . . ?
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I agree with @db4690. Not selling diesels will reduce their sales, but in most cases, that will not be enough to close the dealership. I believe that VW will buy back new, unsold VWs on the lot, but not used VWs. Does this dealer own franchises for other brands? If not, that may be a reason for closing. Most (all?) dealers around here have at least two new car brands, and most have more.
Are you sure?
Which spin doctor to believe?
Feb 1, 2017
Volkswagen AG surpassed Toyota as the global leader in automotive volume sales, delivering 10.3 million vehicles worldwide in 2016, up 3.8% year-over-year. Toyota, which regained its title in 2012 after losing it in 2011 in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, sold 10.2 million vehicles during the year, up only 0.2% year-over-year.
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I was referring to VW global sales, and they are indeed moving on up, scandal or no scandal
So if you look at it from a global perspective, their numbers are simply amazing
Yeah, I was curious if the closure had anything to do with the scandal and resulting decline in US sales. I didn’t see any announcement about it in the newspaper, so don’t know the actual reason. This dealership I believe only sold the VW brand. I used to go there to buy parts for my Rabbit years ago. What I liked about that place, they often displayed a few resurrected 50’s - 70’s old air cooled Beetles for sale right up front, to attract customers to the lot. It was fun looking at those cars.
Probably unrelated. The local Kia dealer here has closed too. Not sure why, but there are 2 new Kia dealerships opened within 20 miles. So I don’t think the dealer closing means Kia is going away, just that the dealership did not do well. Interestingly, I had visited the Kia dealership twice and they had a no pressure sales tactic which was pretty refreshing; alas.
I’m not saying you don’t have to be careful in comparing global with us sales and the sales numbers of the previous year as baseline, which may not be a good average, but if I had to choose who to believe, USA or Forbes? It’s Forbes based on the junk I’ve seen in USA this week. And it’s too much work to fix that run on sentence, so live with it.
I think some of us would like to believe that VW is going to lose massive global market share and be one step away from bankruptcy
But that’s not always the way things work out
Lots of auto manufacturers have made some very questionable decisions, and lived to fight another day, regain their reputation, and even increase their sales, in some cases
Yes, we on this website have long memories, but not everybody else does
I wonder if it’s possible BOTH articles are correct. While the US does represent a significant portion of overall sales, I suppose it might be possible to have lower sales here, but have a banner year elsewhere, thus increasing global sales
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Both articles are correct. US sales have dropped a huge amount, world sales OK.
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I drove by the former Kia dealership where I purchased my Forte. In 2010 it was one of several dealerships owned by Power Corp which sold several brands. Kia opened a new location about 3 years ago with a service department which the original location lacked. The old Kia location is now a used vehicle dealer for Power Mazda.
Over the past 15 or so years the VW, Mercedes, Subaru, Jeep, and Cadillac dealers in my area have all closed. I wouldn’t read too much into it.
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In my neck of the woods, the only dealerships that have closed were Suzuki–for obvious reasons–and Mitsubishi–for somewhat less obvious reasons. Everyone else seems to be doing very well, and my Subaru dealership is currently undergoing major construction to enlarge the entire facility.
Stella!!!
Speaking of your neck of the woods, how’s Stella doing? Got any snow?
CSA
"Speaking of your neck of the woods, how’s Stella doing? Got any snow?"
In this era, when some folks seem to prize alternative facts, once again we have been snookered by forecasts that have proven to be…less than accurate. The forecast for my area was “12-18 inches”, but in reality the accumulation is 5-6 inches.
Perhaps the forecasting folks can get Kelly Ann Conway to explain what happened with their forecast. Maybe it was all the fault of a microwave oven…
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No disrespect but I still had to laugh at the garbage trucks with the under carriage plows on them in NY. They also showed some regular dump trucks with plows too but that would never fly in Minnesota. On Sunday we got about 8" of snow but by Tuesday all the roads were clear and dry. Of course the March sun helps, but still you need good plows, snow blowers, ATVs, graders, and front end loaders. They can all be used in the off season too except the blowers. Still a foot or two is a lot of snow but ya gotta tool up for it.
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My oldest son is a climatologist/meteorologist and he would be the first to tell you that weather forecasting is an educated guess.
He’s told me that 3 days out is the fartherest weather can be predicted with any degree of accuracy. Five days is a guess and over 5 days is a wild guess.
There are too many things which can’t be seen and which change all the time to be able to nail down weather forecasts in a solid manner.
Most of the TV people have to keep it simple and put on a bit of an act to keep the viewing public’s attention.
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Right! I get that! Then, since climate is average weather and basically unpredictable except for very short terms, how do you forecast climate for 30 years?
CSA