But the many variables influencing the market make the victor for all of 2015 an open question.
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Through September 2015, Toyota has sold more vehicles (7.49 million) than Volkswagen (7.43 million), making it once again the world’s No. 1 automaker, Automotive News Europe reports.
The sale of VW Group diesels has been stopped in many markets, whilst the Volkswagen brand itself is also facing a slowing of sales in its largest market – China – to the tune of 7.4 per cent in the first nine months of this year, according to the Daily Telegraph. The German company’s declined 1.5 per cent to 7,430,800, while sales at the American automaker sank 1.9 per cent to 7,235,000.
Volkswagen has slipped back to second place in the list of the world’s top vehicle makers for the first nine months of the year.
However, the full impact of the emission test scam is yet to be felt, as Volkswagen could face further drop in sales.
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Volkswagen sold 10.14 million vehicles in 2014. Until then, Volkswagen had appeared unstoppable with growth going strong in various global markets. “Toyota is the beneficiary”. As Volkswagen tries to regroup, the company said Monday that it was bringing in Thomas Sedran, 51, from General Motors, as head of corporate strategy. Earlier, he was head of corporate strategy at GM’s Opel division, which is based in Ruesselsheim, Germany. By appointing an outsider to the position, Volkwagen’s new chief executive, Matthias Mueller, may be addressing criticism that top management has been too insular and dominated by longtime insiders.
