VW sales skid in January

Volkswagen of America today reported that sales fell 19 percent in January, with the Chattanooga-made Passat posting a nearly 30 percent decline over the same month a year ago.

"With our planned wind down of models in run-out, our January sales results were expectedly impacted," said Mark Barnes, vice president of sales for Volkswagen of America, in a statement. "Nonetheless, we're optimistic we will see a steady pace in the months ahead as our Super Bowl advertisement, "Wings," continues to raise awareness of the reliability and durability of our products, and we prepare to launch the next generation Golf family of vehicles.

VW's January sales of 23,494 units compared to 29,018 a year ago.

The Passat's sales last month of 6,236 were off from 8,856 from January 2013, the automaker reported.

Sales of all of VW's models fell last month except the Routan minivan, which is being discontinued.

The company is expected to make a decision soon on where to produce a new sport utility vehicle, and the Chattanooga plant has been termed by VW as the frontrunner.

See more on auto sales in Tuesday's Times Free Press.

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