By Angus Berwick
LONDON (Reuters) - The emissions-cheating scandal shaking Volkswagen has not affected the price of used VW diesel cars in Europe, a car valuation firm said on Friday, while warning that could change later in the year.
EurotaxGlass's AG told Reuters it had surveyed used car prices in 30 European countries and found that Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker which admitted in September it could have emissions-cheating software in up to 11 million vehicles, was not trailing the market significantly in any one.
The firm said, however, the limited impact was due to sellers of affected vehicles holding off from lowering prices, and instead preferring to delay sales in the hope the scandal would blow over.
"There is no evidence that used car prices are coming under pressure for the Volkswagen brand or for the Volkswagen group models," Christof Engelskirchen, the Swiss-based company's managing director, said.
The survey, carried out between Sept. 17 and Oct. 9, showed the price of used VW diesel cars in Germany fell by 1.5 percent against the market, but Engelskirchen said this could be in line with daily volatility and not necessarily due to the scandal.
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He added there was likely a lag between the news on Sept. 18 that Volkswagen had fitted diesel vehicles with the so-called defeat devices and its impact on used cars prices.
"We see a risk of a more visible downward trend apparent during the next four weeks for VW brand and VW group models, once more people have understood the full extent of Dieselgate and begin to deal with it," he said.
Sales of new Volkswagen cars across the world have also not slipped following the news of the scandal.
Audi, a division of Volkswagen, said on Thursday sales had risen 6.8 percent in September to 170,900 cars thanks to strong demand from Southern Europe and the United States.
(Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Mark Potter)