Chattanooga-made Passat has best-ever August

photo Chanee Baker installs a tunnel shield to the chassis of a Volkswagen Passat on the production line.

Volkswagen reported today that Passat sales had their best August ever, with more than 40 percent of the Chattanooga-made sedans sold in the month sporting its clean diesel engine.

Jonathan Browning, the company's chief executive, said demand for the carmaker's "clean diesel" vehicles is "an underlying improvement in terms of consumer appreciation."

Despite strong Passat sales of 10,194 in August, overall VW U.S. sales in the month were down 1.6 percent from a year ago at 40,342 vehicles.

Still, the German automaker said August was only the third month in 40 years in which sales surpassed 40,000.

"Overall, we are pleased to see that demand for the brand remains strong," Browning said.

See more in Thursday's Times Free Press.

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