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Volkswagen suffers more than rivals from auto industry woes
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Globally, Volkswagen is second only to Toyota Motor in the number of cars it sells. But it’s a niche brand in the US, selling 330,000 vehicles in 2025, 13 per cent fewer than in 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
Jack Ewing
Follow topic:
- Volkswagen's US sales fell 20% in late 2025 due to tariffs, trade conflicts and the removal of electric vehicle incentives.
- US policy shifts favouring fossil fuels and tariffs disadvantage foreign automakers like Volkswagen, impacting sales and profits.
- Volkswagen plans to improve sales in 2026 with a new US-made Atlas SUV, but faces challenges with imported models amid a shifting market.
AI generated
Perhaps no automaker has been hit harder by shifting political winds in Washington and tumult in the global auto industry than Volkswagen. The German automaker’s sales in the US fell 20 per cent in the last three months of 2025 because of tariffs, trade conflict and the withdrawal of incentives to promote electric vehicles (EVs).
Volkswagen’s travails are an extreme example of the difficulties foreign automakers have had in the US car market as it diverges sharply from the rest of the world. Sales of EVs are growing in China, Europe and elsewhere but slumping in the US after Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration ended tax credits and other incentives. Policy now promotes fossil fuels.
