VW Considers Exiting U.S. Diesel Market Permanently

Just a few months after finally announcing a solution to their highly-publicized "Dieselgate" incident, it appears that this nitrogen-oxide-fueled nightmare might have made Volkswagen reconsider continuing sales of TDI diesel models in the United States entirely. The German automaker has been prohibited from selling such vehicles in the U.S. since late last year, and VW says sales of non-diesel vehicles in America have actually exceeded their expectations.

"Diesel remains strong and very popular in Europe," said Hinrich Woebcken, Volkswagen of America’s top executive. "The U.S. is very different, but it’s obvious we will not relaunch diesel in the same magnitude as it was before." Woebcken said that the manufacturer would evaluate the U.S. diesel market on a "product by product and package by package" basis.

He went on to say that because emissions regulations are growing stricter and stricter in the U.S., it makes it increasingly difficult for light-duty diesel engines to legally meet requirements. Prior to the emissions cheating scandal that rocked the company, diesel sales made up a quarter of VW's U.S. sales.

Removing diesel-powered cars from the U.S. market all together means that VW will need to come up with another way to supplement that lost income.

With gas prices still reasonable across the country, Americans have taken to purchasing more pickup trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. So Volkswagen will continue to develop their portfolio and compete in more of these segments. However, Woebcken said while VW will continue to offer a broad array of passenger cars, wagons, and utility vehicles, the pickup truck market is out of reach. Aside from the difficulty they would have loosening U.S automakers hold on the truck market, the midsize Amarok pickup that VW sells in Australia, Europe, and South America would also have difficulty meeting U.S. safety regulations.