CINCINNATI and IRVINE, Calif. -

As Kelley Blue Book spotted softening activity both on the retail and wholesale sides associated with the German OEM, Wantalease.com highlighted that Volkswagen is among several automakers continue to offer aggressive vehicle lease deals for less than $150 per month.

Current deals on the Jetta S stand at $139 monthly, and the Passat 1.8T Limited Edition is listed at $179 monthly. 

Officials noted Volkswagen joins other brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan and Toyota in offering multiple lease deals below $200 per month. Chevrolet is offering three models under $200 per month, including the Malibu LT, Cruze LT and Equinox 2WD LT.

Trucks continue to offer plenty of vehicle lease deals as well, with several models offered below $250 per month. Toyota RAV4 LE FWD, Honda CR-V LX 2WD and the Ford F-150 SuperCab SWB 4×4 XLT highlight current monthly lease deals.

In the luxury category, the Acura ILX, BMW 328i and Lexus IS 250 are currently offered for less than $350 per month.

“These low lease deals will continue for some time as dealers and carmakers look to continue finding ways to offer monthly payments that are in line with many family budgets,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Wantalease.com.

“We’ll also be keeping an eye on Volkswagen to see if they begin to get aggressive with other popular models in order to keep their showrooms full of car shoppers in light of their current recall situation,” Hall added.

In light of the ongoing story, Black Book also took a look at depreciation for specific VW diesel vehicles impacted by the recent emissions situation.

The latest Black Book Market Insights report shows that since the news regarding VW broke on Sept. 18, each vehicle Black Book has tracked displayed a higher level of depreciation compared with its competitive gas models. Comparisons from Black Book are as follows:

Golf Diesel: -8.7 percent
Gas Models: -3.7 percent

Jetta Diesel: -13.8 percent
Gas Models: -3.7 percent

Beetle Diesel: -9.3 percent
Gas Models: -3.2 percent

Passat Diesel: -13.5 percent
Gas Models: -2.8 percent

More VW activity details from KBB

On Wednesday, Kelley Blue Book reported that average auction prices, along with new-car shopping activity on KBB.com, for Volkswagen diesel vehicles have declined four weeks after the diesel emissions issue was announced. 

The average auction price for Volkswagen diesel models dropped by nearly 16 percent since the news broke of the emissions crisis. The average auction price for the brand’s gasoline-powered vehicles declined by 2.9 percent.

On KBB.com, Volkswagen new-car shopping activity for affected TDI models has decreased on average by 2.4 percent.

“According to Kelley Blue Book Field Analysts, some auctions are still holding off on selling the affected Volkswagen inventory,” Kelley Blue Book analyst Tim Fleming said. “While Volkswagen diesel auction prices are in decline, we could see larger fluctuations depending on how this inventory is handled.”

KBB shared three other trends from its website associated with Volkswagen traffic comparing activity from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 against Sept. 14 to Oct. 18

• The Volkswagen Golf SportWagen and Golf have seen the most significant declines in shopping activity, with decreases of 6.2 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

• The Audi A3 and Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen are the only TDI models seeing increases in activity, at 1.6 and 3 percent respectively, which is consistent with segment-level traffic on KBB.com.

• Audi A3 shoppers are increasingly cross-shopping competing luxury models following the announcement. The most highly cross-shopped vehicles are the Lexus NX, BMW 2-Series and Mercedes-Benz CLA.  

“During the past four weeks following the emissions announcement, traffic to KBB.com has generally decreased after an initial surge in interest for Volkswagen diesel models, likely because of the stop-sell and negative press,” said Arthur Henry, senior manager of strategic insights for Kelley Blue Book.

“Interestingly, with regard to cross-shopping data, consumers are not looking at fuel-efficient or hybrid vehicles,” Henry continued. “For example, shoppers interested in the Jetta TDI are looking to the Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Ford Fusion as alternatives, according to cross-shopping data from KBB.com.”