Volkswagen in the first half of the year overtook Toyota to become the world’s biggest automaker, capturing the no. 1 spot long coveted by the German firm.
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Toyota – which includes its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries – said on Tuesday it sold 5.02m vehicles in the six months through June, less than the 5.04m VW said it had sold in the same period.
The sales crown weighs heavily on the auto company proud to be wearing it. General Motors’ final years as the world’s biggest automaker coincided with its fall into bankruptcy. However, the Japanese carmaker retook the position in 2012 and sold 10.23 million vehicles last year, beating Volkswagen and GM.
Volkswagen shares lost 1.94 percent to 186.90 euros on the Frankfurt stock exchange in late morning trading Wednesday. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study, which examines new vehicles, Volkswagen’s namesake brand ranked 24th out of 33 brands sold in the U.S. The Toyota brand was 10th.
Toyota along with other real automakers, are attempting to recuperate a notoriety for security after the review of a huge number of autos around the globe for different issues, including a blasting air sack emergency at supplier Takata. The company makes the Beetle and Golf cars, and also has the Porsche, Bugatti and Audi brands within its group.
Toyota expects to announce first-quarter earnings in one week but they have already noted that sales have slowed down in the emerging markets and new taxes have not helped either.
Reports are rolling in after some data raised some attention to indicate that Volkswagen AG stole Toyota’s title to become the world’s top automaker by sales for this year.
GM, making the Cadillac and Opel cars, was third at 9.92 million vehicles in revenue that is global this past year.
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The difference in sales between VW and Toyota is only 20,000 and analysts point out that the order of top global carmakers could change once full-year figures have been tallied up. The company’s China sales fell 3.9 percent through June. Volkswagen Group’s deliveries continued at a sturdy pace and stayed virtually steady for the six-month period, again crossing the five million mark.
