FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) hiked the number of passenger cars registered for road use with the authorities by 46.2 percent in Germany last month, lifting German passenger car registrations by 24.7 percent in August, statistics from the KBA German vehicle authority showed.
Of the 316,405 vehicles registered in Germany last month, only 32.6 percent went to private owners, KBA statistics showed. VW brand registrations rose by 46.2 percent and registrations at its premium brand Audi and Porsche jumped by 45.3 percent, and 60.8 percent respectively, KBA statistics published on Tuesday showed.
Volkswagen had warned that the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which came into force in September, would dampen sales in September and October. The carmaker rented multi-storey car parks and open parking lots to store the vehicles it cannot yet deliver.
From September onward, only half of VW's 14 passenger car models are compliant with the new standard, the carmaker said, drastically curtailing its offering in September and October.
Registrations of Mercedes passenger cars dipped 10.9 percent, while BMW recorded a 3.1 percent jump during the same period.