More than any other automaker, Volkswagen had tried to win American consumers back to diesel cars, and erase memories of unreliable, polluting cars that spewed clouds of smoke and had trouble starting in winter weather. Unlike Europe, where about half the passenger vehicles sold run on diesel, such cars account for fewer than 1 percent of new car sales in the United States. Most of those vehicles are sold by Volkswagen.
When new emissions standards were introduced in 2009, Volkswagen was the first major carmaker to offer vehicles that could meet the new rules. In August, diesel sales accounted for 23 percent of all cars sold by Volkswagen in the United States.