Volkswagen's UK car sales tumble in November - SMMT

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 4 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) sales in Britain tumbled in November with new car registrations of VW-branded models falling 20 percent year-on-year in the wake of the diesel emissions rigging scandal, industry figures showed on Friday.

Overall new car registrations grew 3.8 percent year-on-year in November to 178,876, Britain's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. This compared with a 1.1 percent drop in October, which ended 43 months of continual growth in a market which has benefited from purchases made with cheap finance.

However, all of VW's main brands saw drops with Audi (LSE: 0FG8.L - news) branded cars falling 4 percent, Seat 24 percent and Skoda 11 percent.

Although the scandal engulfing the German carmaker first broke in mid-September, car deliveries typically occur several weeks after purchase decisions, making November's data the best gauge so far of the impact on demand. (Reporting By Costas Pitas, editing by David Milliken)