European new car sales data for September released Friday showed Volkswagen AG weathered the initial storm in the two weeks following the explosion of the emissions scandal that forced the German company to lower earnings estimates, take a EUR6.5 billion charge and change its chief executive. For the month, VW's new passenger car registrations, a proxy for sales, rose 8.4% in the European Union, slightly below the 9.8% advance for the market as a whole, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA.