Volkswagen: Now no. 1 carmaker in the world!...

[airbalancer]

VW sales in USA ending Sept/2009:  220,292 vehicles

Toyota sales in USA ending Sept/2009:  1,296,422 vehicles



http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,49080.180.html

Which means VW has more brands that the rest of the world wants
In Tunisa, VW had about 8 out of 10 cars on the road
In Spain it was mostly Seat
Really did not see many Japan or America in Europe

[Erik]

Bet there are some pink slips being handed out at Toyota today.

Not likely.  Are these sales number a combination of VW, Porsche, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Lambo, Bentley and Bugatti?  In that case, it's not really that surprising.  Toyota only has 2 global divisions (Toyota and Lexus).  And beyond Scion, they don't own any other full line auto company. (They have a slice in Daihatsu and Hino trucks)

Also consider the German market had a similar "cash for clunkers" that benefited the German marques.  And they do really well in China too!  Oh...and Toyota deliberately halved it's 1st quarter vehicle production too.

So not a huge surprise given all the facts...

Huge surprise.
Toyota has spent the last decade openly setting it's goal of being the number one car company in the world. They have spent BILLIONS of dollars to do this. They have now failed at that, and failed miserably, considering the company they were aiming for, was bankrupt this year and is still struggling to recover. So instead of being the number one auto manufacturer in the world, we get declining sales and declining quality (including apologies from the top because of the poor quality), and a poor product mix in their biggest market, and a ton of production overcapacity.

An epic fail, and likely their first one ever, for Toyota.

(Lets be serious here. How much did Bentley, Lambo, and Bugatti really add to their sales numbers. Was Porsche even counted? Seat and Skoda are not Global brands either, so the core of VW is VW and Audi.)

My sincere congratulations to VW in doing this. The great part is they didn't have to dumb down their cars or just make transportation appliances to do so. There really are not many cars that VW as a whole makes that I would be embarrassed to be seen in or unhappy to own. Don't know many other manufacturers I would say that about.

[tpl]

As someone who will never buy a Toyota I don't get your comment about the poor product mix.

They have a very small car in HB and sedan   yaris
A small family car/hatchback  Corolla/Matrix
A big family car and hatchback   Camry  Venza
And a big people carrier    Sienna

A luxury line of sedans and coupes   Lexus branded

 So they have the cars covered   and lots of other stuff  like Highlanders and pickups. Even if the market moves completely away for trucks and SUVs, which is unlikely, Toyota still have cars in every segment... or more importantly, platforms in every segment on which they can build cheap cars or luxury cars as they choose.

[safristi]

  WOT ............NO LEXOTA LFA fer ya tpl!!!!!!    fer shame ...spend that OAP................. ...

[articsteve]

Toyota has spent the last decade openly setting it's goal of being the number one car company in the world. They have spent BILLIONS of dollars to do this.

Probably because automobile manufacturing is a BILLION dollar industry.

They have now failed at that, and failed miserably, considering the company they were aiming for, was bankrupt this year and is still struggling to recover.

I believe they are still the number one company manufacturer in the world and still have the strongest balance sheet.  GM has received at least 50 BILLION in free cash and burned investors for about the same and still can't get it together.

VW is a bit player in North America and have such a singular product line.  Lets wait for the massive restructuring of the industry to conclude before declaring who is out and who is in.

They who conquer the US market will reign supreme.   

[mrthompson]

[safristi]

   GROPE_THINK    und TANK TOPS..........

[vdk]

They who conquer the US market will reign supreme.   

That's the whole problem with Toyota right now. They've been focusing on the North American market too much, and they felt the recession more than other manufacturers.

[Turbo Bob]

Wow, that was quick and much earlier than expected. Volkswagen wanted to be the no. 1 carmaker and overtaking Toyota by 2018,...


http://www.germancarblog.com/2009/11/volkswagen-now-no-1-carmaker-in-world.html

That blog is wrong, it says VW sold more and actually they just MADE more, mainly due to the reason RR said.  The real news:

Volkswagen Overtakes Toyota In Production, Toyota Still Ahead In Sales
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/45844/volkswagen-overtakes-toyota-in-production-toyota-still-ahead-in-sales/

 

Come on afretes I thought you were an honest salesperson, you need to check your facts.  Oh and their market cap just plummeted too...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8353352.stm

 

[dr_spock]

The year is not over yet.   There is still time for both party to make more sales. 

[sirAQUAMAN64]

You can't sell more than you make, although on an annual basis it sure happens. These 'sales' figures are convoluted when so close.

And the winner is ... Toyota, probably
Chrissie Thompson
Automotive News
November 13, 2009 - 3:30 pm ET

Has Volkswagen AG -- benefiting from demand linked to European scrappage programs -- outproduced Toyota Motor Corp. through September? It depends on whom you ask.


Some news reports this week said Volkswagen had passed Toyota in production through September. The manufacturers' third-quarter financial reports showed Volkswagen had built 4.4 million units through the first nine months to Toyota's 4.2 million.

But not so fast.

Volkswagen's total included production by joint ventures in which it does not hold a majority stake. Toyota's doesn't add such production numbers. Adding in affiliates would give Toyota 4.9 million units, the company said, putting the Japanese automaker comfortably at No. 1.

Automotive News does not include minority-stake affiliates in production totals, but Volkswagen declined to break out such units from its nine-month figure for comparisons with Toyota's 4.2 million units.

In any case, Toyota should be in first place at the end of the year, said Christoph Stuermer, an IHS Global Insight analyst. Stuermer created a chart this week that first pointed out the possible Volkswagen lead.

Toyota got a slow start this year when it reacted to the global automotive downturn by cutting production almost in half in the first six months of this year, he said. Volkswagen prospered as European demand, bolstered by scrappage incentives, did not fall as far as it did in Asia and the United States.

"Toyota's coming back big time," Stuermer said. "They have a lot of leeway in the Asian markets that they're still gaining, and they're gaining a lot of ground in the U.S."

European markets will take a hit next year as scrappage programs fade away, he said. That will further disadvantage Volkswagen.

Not focused on No. 1

Toyota is unconcerned with the No. 1 ranking, which the automaker first took from General Motors in 2006, spokeswoman Mira Sleilati said.

"Toyota's goal is to focus on the customer, so we're not focused on being No. 1," she said.

VW declined to comment.

Volkswagen's advancement has been rapid. For 2008, it ranked No. 3 globally behind Toyota and GM in both sales and production, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Stuermer said he estimated GM's production at 3.6 million units through September, down from 5.9 million in 2008. That puts the automaker in third place.

Stuermer estimated that grouping Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. totaled 3.7 million units of production through September, which would put the companies ahead of GM. But Automotive News separates their production totals.

In November 2008, Ford cut its stake in Mazda to 13 percent from 33 percent.

[Wolverine]

When will you be able to download version 1.1 to fix the bugs?   

HAhahahahahahahaa, good one. Initially VW will be replacing the engines, but they denied the problem untill too many cases surfaced.

It's tough to balance as we've seen from a couple of automakers now eh?

HEhehehheh. Looks like VW is trying to follow Toyota's footsteps.