The Volkswagen Group has officially overtaken Toyota Motor Corporation as the world's largest automaker in terms of unit production; a title that might very well be short lived as the Japanese manufacturer slowly recovers from the global economic slowdown.
Having recently merged with Porsche, the German automotive giant has managed to produce 4,4 million units in the first nine months of 2009, while Toyota, who claimed the title of largest automaker from General Motors after the embattled Detroit producer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, only produced 4,0 million since January this year.
Although this is well ahead of VW's goal of becoming the largest automaker by 2018, the stay at the top might be temporary as Toyota still boasts the production capacity to put out as much as 10 million units per annum - much more than VW. Pundits believe that much of VW's sales progress in 2009 can be credited to the success of government scrappage schemes that was particularly beneficial to the Wolfsburg-based firm.
Despite the end of the programmes in September, the German market saw a 26 per cent growth in the registration of new vehicles in October, which go hand-in-hand with the report that VW Group sales for 2009 are up by 34 per cent in the first nine months of the year.
But it should also be noted that Toyota slashed its production substantially as the automotive crisis was at its worst during the end of 2009 and beginning of 2009. It's likely that once the storm has passed, Toyota will regain its title as number one.
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Concerning the article, I'm glad for VW as I think the mixture of VW, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, Seat, etc. can only help to better each branch of the overall group, and I see a exciting future for VW! Will definitely miss the Citi Golf as an entry level option. Let's hope there will come a replacement to help the lower income groups.
