The US sales of German concern - Volkswagen AG fell in November 2015 by 24.7%, to 23 882 cars.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the November data further alienate Volkswagen from the coveted title of the largest automaker on the planet.
Sales of Volkswagen in the United States fell amid the scandal that came out because of underreporting emissions of diesel vehicles.
The company itself explains the sharp decline in sales is because of the suspension of selling those models affected by diesel scandal - with a total of nearly 500 thousand cars. The volume of US sales of Jetta model collapsed in November by 30% and Passat by 60%.
The Audi brand, which is also part of the Volkswagen concern, in November showed record sales in the US the 59th consecutive month. The rise last month was 0.4%, and since the beginning of the year by 12%.
In general, the American car market continues to grow thanks to cheap credit and low gasoline prices.
The rating agency - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday downgraded the credit rating of VW from "A-" to "BBB +" with a "negative" outlook, justifying this decision with the diesel scandal.
According to Wall Street Journal sources, in November, Volkswagen was negotiating with banks about a credit line of up to $ 22 billion to address the problems associated with the manipulation of data on emissions.
The scandal, affecting Volkswagen and significantly reducing the capitalization of the concern, has inflamed after US regulators found that on some vehicles with diesel engines of the company, there is installed a special software that allows to bypass the test for harmful emissions. This kind of program was set on 11 million vehicles sold worldwide. In a recall of these cars the company has reserved 6.7 billion euros, but the final costs will clearly be higher.
In addition, an internal investigation revealed mislabeling level of carbon dioxide emissions on 800 thousand cars sold in Europe. Solving the problem could cost the company another 2 billion euros.