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Report: Volkswagen Group Overtakes Toyota As World’s Biggest Automaker

 
9 3,819 views Nov 10, 2009
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Volkswagen has openly stated that Toyota is its biggest competitor but now it seems that the tables have turned. According to latest reports, the Volkswagen Group, which now includes Porsche, has overtaken Toyota to become the world's biggest automaker, with production estimated to be 4.4 million vehicles so far this year.


Production at Toyota, on the other hand, though still significant, has only topped 4.0 million vehicles since January.

The estimates, by IHS Global Insight, reflect the effects of government measures in China, Germany and the UK on the German auto giant.

The research group also explains that Toyota’s decision to halve its output in the first quarter of the year has also helped Volkswagen’s position. In fact, Toyota is only expected to produce 7.24 million vehicles for the year, down from 9.24 million last year.

The story doesn’t end there. In an unrelated matter, Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has sold half of its stake in Volkswagen, making a quick $2.4 billion in the process.

[Guardian]





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Comments (9)

  1. r4 ds Posted: 11/10/2009 8:43pm PST

    Volkswagen for real?? I don't know, Its sounds great to me. It is fact that Volkswagen is popular in Europe, but I just don't see it in others part of the world and definitely not in the western hemisphere.
     
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  2. azlan avatar azlan Posted: 11/10/2009 10:22pm PST

    its volkswagen "group" not just volkswagen, the group owns everything haha id be surprised if toyota were still the leading car company.
     
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  3. NoNameDenton Posted: 11/11/2009 12:06am PST

    Wow, VW was predicting it owuld be biggest by 2018, way to shave time off that estimate
     
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  4. dan Posted: 11/11/2009 2:21am PST

    Can you say turbo diesel! There vehicles have a driving on rails feel and Hyundai is organic feel. GM's feel planted and get great mileage so we are in the game! VW can and will appeal to those buyers in today's fuel efficient market. They are poised for it!
     
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  5. rodan Posted: 11/11/2009 5:30am PST

    Not sure if this is such a good thing ... GM & Toyota have been having hard times lately ...
     
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  6. nc2000 Posted: 11/11/2009 5:34am PST

    "It is fact that Volkswagen is popular in Europe, but I just don't see it in others part of the world and definitely not in the western hemisphere."
    Well, they have been 1st in Europe for years, are at the top in China, leading import in Japan and are near the top in sales in Brazil and Mexico.
    As we know, the USA car buyer is not very bright wrt cars-the goodness of the VW models seem to be missed.
    VW's push in USA market with dumbed down models may help sales, but will result in the loss of the traditional "car people" models.
     
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  7. bepsf Posted: 11/11/2009 10:57am PST

    "It is fact that Volkswagen is popular in Europe, but I just don't see it in others part of the world and definitely not in the western hemisphere."
    Check your facts.
    What NC2000 said - plus there's Seat which is the dominant brand in Spain, and Skoda which is dominant in Central & Eastern Europe.
    Audi is increasing market share in the US while BMW, Lexus and MBZ are falling.
    Bentley consistently outsells Rolls Royce and Maybach worldwide - 3-1 in the US market alone.
    Porsche easily outsells Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini (another VWAG brand) in combined worldwide sales - and Porsche outsells Jaguar 2-1 in the US.
    VW alone has a greater percentage of the US market YTD than BMW, MBZ, Subaru, Volvo, and Mitsubishi - and have the same market share percentage as Mazda. When combined w/ Porsche and Audi, the VWAG brands have the same US market share percentage as KIA.
    http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html#autosalesE
     
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  8. Nick Posted: 11/27/2009 8:29pm PST

    Very great place. The message here is really important. I will share it with my friends. Cheers
     
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  9. iphone case Posted: 7/21/2010 6:44pm PDT

    I love the case but the ring silencer switch is hard to access. Also the I-GO charging tip does not fit in the opening - to fix this problem, I took a knife and shaved a little off of the corners of the plastic plug (on the I-GO tip), now it fits fine. If you have an external battery pack, it cannot be used with the case in place, the connector on the battery pack is not long enough to reach the plug on the phone. I have not had any issues yet with my phone falling out of the holster as long as the phone is inserted in the holster face in.
     
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