Embattled German auto giant Volkswagen said Friday that worldwide sales of its vehicles were down 1.5 percent in September and ialso in the first nine months of this year.

VW, facing its deepest-ever crisis after admitting that it fitted 11 million diesel vehicles with pollution-cheating software, said in a statement that worldwide deliveries to customers totalled 885,300 in September alone and 7.431 million in the nine months to September. In both cases, that represented a decline of 1.5 percent compared with the corresponding period a year earlier, the statement said.