2020 (Full Year) USA: Volkswagen of America Car and SUV Sales

In 2020, Volkswagen of America vehicle sales in the USA contracted by 10%. The top-selling VW car models in the US were the Tiguan, Atlas, and Jetta.

In 2020, Volkswagen of America vehicle sales contracted 10%. The top-selling VW car models in the USA were the Tiguan, Atlas, and Jetta.

In full calendar year 2020, Volkswagen of America vehicle sales in the USA were 10% lower at 325,784 vehicles compared to 363,322 in 2019. However, VW ended the year in the USA strongly with sales up 11% during the final three months of the year for the best quarter for VW SUV sales in the USA ever. December 2020 was also the best December for VW in the US since 2012.

Volkswagen USA Sales by Model in 2020 (Full Year)

Volkswagen sales in the USA by model were as follows during 2020 (January to December):

Model20202019Yr/Yr %
Golf6,0635,6447.4%
GTI11,46111,672-1.8%
Golf R1,1934,223-72%
e-Golf7674,863-84%
Jetta82,662100,453-18%
Passat22,96414,12363%
Arteon3,6022,44947%
Tiguan100,687109,572-8.1%
Atlas58,29381,508-28%
Atlas Cross Sport29,069––
Total Atlas87,36281,5087.2%
Discontinued models*9,02328,815-69%
Total Car137,663171,691-20%
Total SUV188,121191,631-1.8%
TOTAL325,784363,322-10%

*Discontinued model sales include the Beetle, Beetle Convertible, CC, Golf Sportwagen, Tiguan Limited and Touareg vehicles.

Volkswagen USA Sales Highlights in 2020

SUVs played an increasingly important role for Volkswagen in the USA with SUV sales increasingly gaining market share since 2014.

While VW car sales in the USA were down by a fifth in 2020, SUV sales were only 1.8% weaker. SUVs played an increasingly important role for Volkswagen in the USA with SUV sales increasingly gaining market share since 2014. In 2020, 58% of all Volkswagens sold in the USA were SUVs with a record 60% market share during the final quarter of 2020. The Tiguan and Atlas were the two top-selling VW models in the USA in 2020.

Traditional passenger cars continued to lose sales in the USA with VW car sales down by 20%. Although Passat, Arteon, and Golf sales were up, the high volume Jetta struggled.

Volkswagen claims that a very high 72% of sales in the USA in 2020 were to new VW customers. For SUVs, the percentage of new VW customers was an even higher 80%.

Car Sales by Brand in the USA in 2020 (Full Year)

Car Sales by Brand in the USA in 2020 (Full Year):

About Volkswagen of America

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc., an operating unit of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWoA) is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany.

VWoA’s operations in the U.S. include research and development, parts and vehicle processing, parts distribution centers, sales, marketing and service offices, financial service centers, and its manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. VWoA sells the Arteon, Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, e-Golf, Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R, Jetta, Passat, and Tiguan vehicles through more than 600 independent U.S. dealers.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.