LONDON—Volkswagen car sales in Britain dropped by almost 20 percent in November compared with a year earlier as the company’s emissions testing scandal took a toll.
There were 12,958 Volkswagen registrations last month in the U.K., compared to 16,196 in November 2014, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said Friday.
Because overall auto sales rose by 3.8 percent, that saw Volkswagen’s market share in Britain drop to 7.2 percent from 9.4 percent a year earlier. Other Volkswagen Group marques, such as SEAT, Skoda and Porsche, also suffered drops in U.K. sales.
The drop in sales was similar to the 25 percent slump reported in the United States, the epicenter of Volkswagen’s scandal. The company, which rivals Toyota for the title as world’s largest car maker, admitted in September that its diesel vehicles had cheated on U.S. emissions tests.
The sales numbers for November are closely watched in part because of a lag of several weeks between the time a car is purchased and registered. The month’s figures for the wider European Union are due on Dec. 15.
