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Volkswagen Records Another Sales Increase in the U.S.

5 January 1998

Volkswagen Records Another Sales Increase in the U.S. - Best Year of the 90s; Best December in a Decade

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 5 -- Recording its fourth
consecutive yearly sales increase, Volkswagen of America, Inc. today reported
its best December sales results in 10 years and its best annual sales mark of
the 1990s.
    For the month of December 1997, Volkswagen sold 12,116 new cars, up 23.5
percent over the same month in 1996 when sales were 9,813.  It marked the best
December for Volkswagen in the U.S. since 1987.
    Historically the top-selling European importer in the U.S., Volkswagen
sold 137,885 new cars in 1997 versus l35,907 in l996, an increase of l.5
percent.  It was the best year for the German automaker in the U.S. since
1988.
    Volkswagen's 1997 sales were once again led by its number-one selling
Jetta model with total sales of 90,984, an increase of seven percent over
1996's mark of 85,022.  This was the best Jetta sales year since 1986 and the
second best in the model's history in the U.S. that began in 1980.
    Volkswagen recently introduced a new Passat model also sold briskly in the
month of December with sales of 2,406, an increase of 87 percent over last
year's December mark of 1,287.
    Marking its best annual sales in eight years, the Volkswagen Cabrio
recorded sales of 9,538 in 1997, a 64 percent increase over the previous
year's mark of 5,828.

SOURCE  Volkswagen of America, Inc.