Volkswagen AG suggested on Tuesday (September 9th) that its new diesel-powered Jetta is helping it to buck the overall slowing trends being recorded in the US.

Europe's biggest automaker has devised a strategy to reach one million sales in the US by 2018 and diesel vehicles, which have a fuel-economy advantage over gasoline models of up to 35 per cent, are said to be a key component of the plans.

The company posted a sales decline of just one per cent during August - while the industry as a whole slumped by 11 per cent - and it is also expecting a "significant" improvement in its full-year results.

Sales of diesel models were lower than that of gasoline-electric hybrids last month, incorporating 1.8 per cent and three per cent of US new-vehicle sales respectively.

However, Mike Omotoso, an engine analyst at Michigan-based consumer research firm JD Power and Associates, has explained that he expects this balance to be reversed in the near future.

He said: "We expect the diesel market to grow and actually overtake the hybrid market over the next seven years. We don't expect the spread between gas and diesel to continue.''

Mr Omotoso claims that by 2015, diesel vehicles will have a market share of ten per cent, compared to 7.5 per cent for hybrids.



Source:

Volkswagen Says U.S. Diesel Sales May Beat Forecast (Update1) (09/09/08)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aOdF0usUZkDE&refer=germany