VW suffers rare sales drop in ailing markets

Europe’s biggest automaker Volkswagen reported a rare dip in sales of its core passenger car brand last month and said business conditions remained tough, in an industry hampered by slumping demand and overcapacity.

The VW namesake brand, accounting for about half of the German powerhouse’s global deliveries, sold 466,100 vehicles in July, down 0.5 per cent from July 2012. It was only the second month of falling sales in 3½ years.

"The July drop may just be a slip-up," said NordLB analyst Frank Schwope. "Brand sales should bounce back in coming months."

Sales of VW's biggest volume brand declined in all major markets except the Asia-Pacific region where China, VW's biggest market, posted a 19 per cent gain in the January-July period. – (Reuters)