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European car sales up 8% in February

Three weeks ago an analyst increased projections for European car sales this year, expecting them to climb three percent compared to last year instead of 2.7 percent. That number is a postive sign after years of hard times but it turns out February was especially good, overall European sales climbing eight percent on a wave of southern European recovery and discounts - and this comes after five months of gains including January's 7.2-percent jump over the year before.
The only country of Europe's five largest markets to post a decline was France, just as it did in January, Germany, the UK and Italy posting solid double-digit numbers, Spain rocking the charts with an 18-percent increase because of a government program to encourage trade-ins.
The only brand to miss the wave was Volkswagen, dropping 0.8 percent as it watched the double-digit growth at sister brands Audi, Seat and Skoda lift the Volkswagen Group sales up by seven-percent. Peugeot overcame flat sales at Citroën to improve the group by 3.5 percent, BMW and the Mercedes-Benz/Smart combo rose by four percent, the Fiat group jumped 5.8 percent, Ford was up 11 percent, the Renault Group 11.5 percent, General Motors 12 percent and the Toyota clan by 14 percent.

Autoblog Minute: VW Emissions Scandal, New Ford Super-Duty

We got our first looks at look at Ford's new Super Duty truck lineup this week but it's Volkswagen that has been dominating the news cycle, as Matthias Muller is named CEO of the embattled automaker. Autoblog's Senior editor Greg Migliore reports on the recap edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] We got our first looks at look at Ford's new Super Duty truck lineup this week but it's Volkswagen that has dominated the news cycle as Matthias Muller is named CEO of the embattled automaker. I'm Senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Super Duty is new for 2017. Our first look at these heavy duty trucks showed increased cab space for passengers, and [00:00:30] a lighter aluminum frame. Ford insists these changes will provide customers with increased towing capacity and fuel efficiency. The all-new Super Duty will be built at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, and it goes on sale in late 2016. Now, in case you missed it Volkswagen is under fire for gaming EPA emissions testing. A massive government recall is in the works and the world's top-selling automaker is looking at significant losses in both car sales and its stock value. On top of losing billions of dollars, Volkswagen is also facing [00:01:00] legal issues. And this week we saw Martin Winterkorn step down as CEO of Volkswagen Group. These changes mark just the beginning of VW's arduous process of rebuilding consumer trust. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday, plus some added insight on the Buick Cascada and its pricing strategy. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.

VW's credit ratings could take a beating

In addition to a significant drop in its share price already, Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal is continuing to have major financial repercussions on the German automaker. According to The Detroit News, credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's changed their forecasts on the company to negative, and Fitch has considered doing so, as well. Volkswagen appears to have the money to cover the costs of this ordeal, but the agencies question the effect that this has in the long term. "Moody's concern, however, is that Volkswagen's alleged breach of US environment rules and, especially, the process by which that breach occurred, will have an adverse effect on its reputation and credibility within the global passenger car markets," the company wrote in a note to investors, according to The Detroit News. VW has initially set aside $7.25 billion to fix things, but the potential shakeup of top executives has caused some investor uncertainty, too. The actual costs for VW to deal with this scandal are still unknown. In the US, the Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation, and with other automakers the government has settled for $900 million against General Motors and $1.2 billion against Toyota. Attorneys general in 29 states have started looking deeper, according to The Detroit News, and regulators in Europe, South Korea, and Canada have commenced their own probes, as well. Related Video: