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VW sales increase 0.6% in September despite diesel scandal

Volkswagen was spared in the month of September from posting a sales disaster, but in reality, the impending doom and gloom is likely just postponed until October. According to VW, it delivered 26,141 vehicles to its dealerships last month, which represents a 0.6-percent gain over the same period a year ago. While up, that meager increase represents the smallest uptick of all major brands in the United States, which is currently in the middle of the best vehicular sales year in the last decade. Audi, the German automaker's mainstream luxury unit, saw a bigger gain at 16.2 percent with 17,340 total units sold, thanks in large part to the popularity of its crossover models. These numbers can't totally be taken at face value, however. In 2014, Labor Day weekend was counted as part of August's sales figures; in 2015, that traditional car-buying holiday fell early in September and is therefore partly responsible for the huge increases from all brands doing business in the United States. Remember, the diesel emissions scandal didn't hit the news until September 18, which means VW was free to sell its 2.0-liter TDI engine for the majority of the month. In other words, October is going to be the real indicator of sales reckoning as it will be the first full month that the brand can't sell its popular diesel models and the first since its emissions scandal broke. Still, TDI sales were down last month. VW reports a total of 3,060 sales of vehicles equipped with TDI engines, which represents 11.7 percent of total volume. That's nearly cut in half from the TDI's year-to-date volume percentage of 20.4 percent. "We would like to thank dealers and customers for the support of the Volkswagen brand," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer for Volkswagen of America in a statement. "Volkswagen will continue to work diligently to regain trust and confidence in our brand." It's not yet clear exactly when VW will issue a fix to make its 2.0-liter TDI engine emissions legal, or when the EPA will recertify those models for sale. Once those two things happen, dealers will again be free to sell vehicles equipped with the powertrain, but even then it remains to be seen how consumers react when the sales ban is lifted. Scroll down below for all the sales data from Volkswagen in September.

Audi renders crossover concept for Detroit, is it the Q1?

Judging by the direction Audi is taking with recent concept vehicles, the forthcoming Audi Q1 crossover - confirmed for production in 2016 - should be an exciting little crossover. Last year, the automaker revealed the Crosslane Coupe Concept, and now it has announced it will reveal a new CUV concept at the Detroit Auto Show next month.
Teased in a trio of sketches, Audi says this unnamed concept is designed with a shooting brake style, which to us it makes it look like a combination of an Audi Allroad and a three-door A3. Little information is available on this concept, but it is about seven inches shorter than the Q3 and Audi notes that it will possess "design elements that are typical of e-tron models," which suggests some sort of powertrain electrification. There's still about a month before the Detroit show kicks off, but until then you can check out the sketches and press release (posted below) that Audi has provided.

Audi outlasts rivals to win 13th Le Mans title

As is so often the case, the 2014 Le Mans was a war of attrition, and Audi managed to prevail once again after all 24 hours had been recorded in the history books, with its Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro claiming first and second places, followed by Toyota in third. Drivers Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer inherited the lead in their No. 2 Audi after the No. 7 Toyota, driven by pole-sitter Kazuki Nakajima, was forced to retire with electrical problems in the 15th hour.
The No. 2 Audi led the race until it was forced to the pits to replace a turbocharger in the 17th hour, allowing the No. 1 Audi, driven by Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gene (who was a last-minute replacement for Loic Duval, who crashed hard during practice) and defending champion Tom Kristensen, led the race until the 21st hour, when it too had to pit with turbocharger issues. This gave the No. 20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Mark Webber the lead until it was forced off the track with gearbox problems, eventually finishing in 38th position.
In LMP2, the Jota Sport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan driven by Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turvey claimed victory, the first five LMP2 finishers all powered by Nissan. Down a level in GTE-Pro, No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella finished one lap ahead of the leading Corvette Racing C7.R. And finally, the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE driven by Kristian Poulsen, David HeinemeierHansson and Nicki Thiim won the GTE-Am race two laps ahead of a Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.