VW Pushes Past Toyota as Global Production Leader
November 11, 2009
The distractions for much of the year surrounding the Volkswagen Group's ownership tussle with Porsche AG didn't stop VW from achieving a significant global milestone: VW this month surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. as the world's largest vehicle manufacturer.
The United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper reports IHS Global Insight figures as indicating Volkswagen (now with Porsche included) production hit 4.4 million units for the year, easily shouldering by Toyota and its production of about 4 million units year-to-date.
Analysts have noted this event was not unpredictable; in the face of a global dropoff in demand, Toyota had made the decision to drastically curtail production in the early part of the year, a move that removed as much as 1 million units or more from Toyota production schedules.
Volkswagen, meanwhile, has been the beneficiary of large-scale stimulus efforts in China and many European countries trying to prop up flagging new-vehicle sales.
Volkswagen also has been boosted by unprecedented demand for its products in China, where in July, sales of 128,000 units accounted for one-quarter of VW's global total, the Guardian reported. The company's one-month China sales figure is substantial - in the U.S., Volkswagen sold a total of just 223,000 units for all of 2008.
For now, VW has emerged as the industry's production leader. But sales numbers may just as quickly reverse the new order. If the U.S. market begins to rebound, for example, Toyota could again accelerate past Volkswagen, as Toyota's U.S. sales alone are nearly ten times VW's. Last year, Toyota sold 2,217,662 vehicles in the U.S. - Bill Visnic, senior contributing editor
2010 Golf courtesy of Volkswagen of America Inc.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:54 PM under Business , Companies , News , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
When I first heard that a Euro brand had surpassed Toyota in sales, I figured it was the Fiat-Chrysler goliath. I should have known VW was getting up there.
Posted by: estreka | November 11, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Edmund's could start a pool and award a prize to the person whom correctly identifies the Chinese Manufacturer that leads worldwide production and the month & year it occurs.
Posted by: fulcrumb | November 12, 2009 at 1:00 PM