Both Volkswagen of America and Audi of America have suspended monthly U.S. sales reporting and instead will report sales only quarterly, the two brands said in a statement Thursday.
They will not report January sales on Monday, but instead will report first-quarter sales in April.
“The U.S. auto industry has long seen itself in 30-day cycles, but it’s hard to argue anymore that a monthly snapshot offers the most effective look at our business,” Werner Eichhorn, VW’s chief sales and marketing officer for North America, said in a written statement.
“We believe quarterly reporting will provide a clearer, more consistent picture of brand and market performance.”
The German brands follow sister brand, Porsche, which announced its move to quarterly U.S. sales reporting earlier this week.
“The time is right for a move that will provide a more transparent look at our business as we consider our long-term strategic goals,” said Daniel Weissland, president, Audi of America. “Increased consistency from quarterly reporting versus reporting on a shorter term strengthens our operations, which ultimately benefits our dealer partners and our customers.”
Domestic automakers in the U.S. began abandoning monthly sales reports in April 2018, when General Motors announced the strategy. Ford and later FCA followed suit, while international automakers were slower to abandon the practice.
