Three Battle For The Crown Of Automakers

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Toyota narrowly defended the lead in the battle for the world's largest automaker last year. But Volkswagen has caught up a lot compared to the leadership duo.

The Japanese automaker Toyota continues to bear the title of world's largest automaker. The Japanese sold 8.42 million vehicles last year, the company announced on Monday. General Motors (GM) came in second with 8.39 million cars. The Volkswagen Group, which has set itself the goal of becoming the global market leader by 2018 and then selling around ten million vehicles by then at the latest, achieved 7.14 million deliveries in 2010.

VW grows best

But Volkswagen is ahead of the game when the growth rates among the three largest car manufacturers are compared. The Wolfsburg-based group increased its deliveries by 13.5 percent last year. According to VW, this grew faster than the overall market for passenger cars, which grew by 11.3 percent. At General Motors, the growth rate was 12.2 percent over the previous year. Toyota, on the other hand, only achieved an increase of eight percent. The Japanese market leader performed better on its home market than overseas. Toyota was shaken last year by the heaviest recall in the company's history.

There are always disputes among industry experts about which sales should be included in the ranking. Toyota also includes the small car brand Daihatsu, in which Toyota holds the majority, and Hino's commercial vehicles in the group figures. Volkswagen, on the other hand, is ruling out sales of the Swedish commercial vehicle subsidiary Scania. General Motors includes its Chinese brands Wuling and Jiefang, which are manufactured in joint ventures with Chinese partners. After Chevrolet, Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall are the second largest brand of the US group. (dpa)