REPORT: VW takes over #1 carmaker slot, sings "Wir sind die Meister, mein Freund"
It was a little more than a year ago when Volkswagen, because of Porsche's stock market finagling, briefly became the most valuable company in the world. This was just after it passed Ford for the number three slot in global sales. Now the big company that could – powered by the little car that could – has passed Toyota to take the number one slot as the world's largest automaker.Of course, there is some number play involved once again. We're talking about the combined entity VW-Porsche, which has built 4.4 million cars to date, which is roughly 400,000 beyond Toyota's mark. However, Toyota halved its production earlier this year and shut down all of its plants in February, and come summer, VW benefited much more than Toyota from the European cash-for-clunkers programs. VW's also got the edge on Toyota in China, where it has spent years introducing models specifically designed for that market.
The year isn't over yet, though, and Toyota still expects to build seven million cars this year. But stay tuned for Q4 of 2010, when it's announced that VW is officially bigger than the Beatles. Hat tip to Jarrett.
Gallery: 2010 Volkswagen U.S. Lineup
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[Source: The Guardian]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Avinash machado 8:00AM (11/10/2009)
The bigger they are,the harder they fall.
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thipps 10:05AM (11/10/2009)
There company philosophy has changed, they now are going to build Moore mainstream cars (cookie cutter) like toyota.
i used to like VW now not so much, and looking at there next gen cars it will only get worse.
James 8:25AM (11/10/2009)
The Germans (VW) have finally taken over the world...the top global auto sales that is.
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Matt_Shift 10:41AM (11/10/2009)
YAY! derivatives of derivatives of VAG cars everywhere now!
when they finally notice their models are cannibalizing each other, it will be a happy day for me.
what happened to the audi's and vw's I USED to love so much...
zamafir 10:55AM (11/10/2009)
@Matt_Shift - care to point out a few of those models? This is the first i've heard of VW and Audi products cannibalizing each other.
rothfuchs7905186 11:38AM (11/11/2009)
I am a BIG airhead (VW fan). I drive a 1966 Beetle, and am working on a VW bus...ok, I have to say, as a professional mechanic, VW is a solid and quality car, all of them, no matter if you buy small, mid or large...
Steve 1:30AM (11/12/2009)
Yep, Toyota makes, over-priced, boring, under-preforming crap. On top of that, they rip off their customers by charging for maintenance. VW maintenance is free, and their cars are not only affordable and reliable, but interesting.
Toyota could only go so far on hyping up bad product... their cheap build quality, serious safety issues, and lies about being 'green' have finally caught up with them. Serious car lovers everywhere can only hope that this is the beginning of the end for the Toyota brand and it's 'exciting as a dishwasher' product line.
Turismo4GT 8:25AM (11/10/2009)
Please Toyota, don't get caught up in trying to be the world's largest like GM did, just focus on fixing your quality issues and putting some fun back into your lineup.
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Dr. Greenthumb 9:18AM (11/10/2009)
Yo, you're wrong about GM. It was not their goal to BE #1, they just were. They were the largest car manufacturer in the world's largest car market, with region specific brands globally. The world has changed.
Mind you, it was VW's goal to be #1. Being #1 is not the curse most people seem to thing it is. That is, if you're not obsessed with numbers and let quality suffer (TOYOTA). The irony is, VW rose to the top despite crappy reliability record.
If GM stays on current path (product wise) and maintain a SENSIBLE business model, they will once again overtake the incredible shrinking Toyota.
P.S. The beating that Toyota & Nissan have been taking lately, is just the beginning. Now that Ford & GM are offering competitive products, the tea party is over. It's going to be a dogfight from here on in.
Polly Prissy Pants 9:54AM (11/10/2009)
It's not quality that's holding Toyota back. The worst Toyota you can imagine is still going to be more reliable than the best Volkswagen. All this really shows is that when it comes to buying stuff, appearance (style) trumps all else.
Yaroukh 10:09AM (11/10/2009)
@Polly Prissy Pants: Wrong. The fact is that VWs (and generally everything from VAG) sold in the rest of the world is far from being as crappy as you in USA know it. And given the numbers VW posts in the USA (very low that is) generally speaking one can say that quality-wise VWs are just fine.
lne937s 10:24AM (11/10/2009)
@Dr. Greenthumb
GM had people wearing buttons to promote their corporate goal of increasing market share while their company was losing money hand over fist. VW is remaining profitabe (albeit at a reduced rate) while increasing market share- a pretty impressive accomplishment in this economy. However, if Germany and other European countries did not have as strong of Cash For Clunkers subsidies, the picture may not have been as bright for VW (Renault benefited from similar subsidies and also saw profitable growth in market share).
Since you bring them up for comparison, Nissan (which did not benefit much from Euro C4C) had a loss for just the first 2 quarters of this year and then returned to profitability. GM had ~20 quarters of major losses before going bankrupt. Carlos Ghosn has made a point to sell cars at a profit. While it took a couple of quarters to compensate for the rapidly increasing value of the Yen and the economic downturn, he returned Nissan to profitability very quickly. He did this by cutting production in expensive countries and reducing incentives- both of which reduce sales but increase profits. Market share might be nice for bragging rights and ego stroking (see GM), but profitability is fundamental to a healthy business.
Polly Prissy Pants 2:49PM (11/10/2009)
"The fact is that VWs (and generally everything from VAG) sold in the rest of the world is far from being as crappy as you in USA know it."
Yes, I'm sure VW only sells the crappy ones in the U.S.
And considering 5 of the 7 top selling brands in Europe are Volkswagen, Renault, Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen I'm not surprised some would think that VWs "are just fine."
Jordan 4:10PM (11/10/2009)
actually polly, many vw models sold in the united states are assembled in mexico. models sold in europe tend to be assembled in... europe, of all places. guess which cars tend to be more reliable?
sparrk 4:33PM (11/10/2009)
@ Pissy Pants "Yes, I'm sure VW only sells the crappy ones in the U.S." that's true , ask any European , they all prefer VW over Toyota.
the4thheat 2:17AM (11/11/2009)
@sparrk lol, they ALL prefer VW over Toyota? That's total nonsense otherwise everyone would only buy VAG products in Europe. VW brands are more popular there since VAG has a huge cost advantage over Toyota in Europe.
And Euro-built VW's aren't magically super-reliable or anything, they just seem that way since the European market is filled with unreliable cars that either got kicked out of the US market a long time ago or never made it. Same reason why a lot of Chinese automakers started selling cars there especially in places like Italy and the Eastern Europe.
Seriously, the Ibiza is the best selling SEAT model and it's utter crap for reliability: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/10/04/seat-ibiza-is-bottom-of-car-reliability-league-115875-21720818/
VWs are not magically more reliable in Europe or anything, they just get away with it more easily since the competition isn't particularly reliable either and people don't drive nearly as many miles in Europe as your average American would, nor in as desolate areas as your average American does (where breaking down is a lot more problematic).
Ron 11:31AM (11/11/2009)
GM fell because they were trying to outsell everyone else by pricing their vehicles lower than the competition and sacrificed quality to do it. The first four vehicles I owned were GM products. I got so tired of working on them that I decided to give Ford a try. Wise move on my part. Ive owned 3 Fords in the last 15 years and other than routine maintanence havent had to spent a dime on any of them. One good thing about owning the Chevys is I accumulated a quite nice tool collection. Problem is I dont get to use them much anymore.
RMN 2:23PM (11/11/2009)
I agree with the4thheat. I think people drive less in Europe and the Japanese just haven't gotten as great a foothold there as they have in the US. That allows a greater variety of companies to compete in local markets.
Bobmarley 8:26AM (11/10/2009)
Bigger isnt always better...its all about the motion of the ocean
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Bobmarley 8:27AM (11/10/2009)
Amen to that...Do it! Do it!
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