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German carmaker Volkswagen has seen its US sales decline sharply as a result of the continuing emissions scandal.

November sales were down by 24.7% from the previous year.

The company said the drop reflected "the impact of the recent stop-sale for all 2.0L 4-cylinder TDI vehicles as well as for the 3.0L V6".

VW was forced to stop selling 2 and 3 litre diesel engine cars after it was discovered they contained software that disguised emission levels.

Volkswagen sold fewer than 24,000 cars in November, with the Golf and Passat models seeing the steepest declines.

The company saw a very minor sales decline of 0.24% in October. The US is not a large market for Volkswagen. Even before the scandal it had struggled to gain traction in a market where larger SUVs and trucks are popular.

The carmaker has admitted to installing devices that lowered the emissions levels of diesel engine cars during testing, but that increased emissions during normal driving.

The company's head Matthias Mueller has previously apologised for the scandal and said, "My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group".

Other carmakers have seen a steady rise in US sales this year.

Sales of General Motors cars rose by 1.5% in November. Toyota and Fiat Chrysler each reported a 3% increase in their November sales compared with last year.