Volkswagen Denies German Report Of Sales Slump On CO2 Confession

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Volkswagen denied a report Saturday that its sales have slumped since this month's admission that it had understated the level of carbon dioxide emissions for some cars.

German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) had reported earlier Saturday that Volkswagen's sales were declining significantly, citing an unnamed dealer as saying business was "dead as a doornail."

"We cannot confirm the statement quoted in FAZ," a spokesman for Volkswagen told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.

"The feedback we are receiving from discussions with representatives of various dealerships across the country, as well as the numbers we have, paint a different picture of the situation in Germany," he added.

VW said Nov. 3 it had understated the level of CO2 emissions from about 800,000 cars sold mainly in Europe, and consequently their fuel usage.

That revelation deepened a crisis at Europe's biggest automaker that initially centered on software on up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide that VW admitted vastly understated their actual emissions of the smog-causing pollutant nitrogen oxide.

Sales of Volkswagen-branded cars fell 5.3 percent in October, the first full month after the scandal erupted, a slightly steeper decline than September's 4 percent drop.