Toyota is expected to maintain the lead by the end of the year, while Volkswagen and General Motors fight it out for the second position with the difference between the volumes at a minimum.
Sales for the first three quarters i.e. January-September of the current calendar year saw Toyota take the top spot in global light vehicle sales followed by Volkswagen in the second position and General Motors in third. Volkswagen reportedly sold 7.40 million units while GM missed by a very small margin having sold 7.372 million units of cars and trucks during the same period. While Toyota is yet to reveal the exact figure of car sales for the first three quarters (to be revealed by end of October), the automaker did maintain the lead up till the first half of the year with 5.1 million units and is expected to hit the 10.1 million mark this year retaining the numero uno position.
Even though General Motors had its best third-quarter global sales since 1980, Volkswagen proved to be the more favoured brand by a tad bit much and has had a consistent momentum in the global market. GM on the other hand has been fueled by the impressive growth in markets like China and North America during the past few months. The American automaker’s sales grew by a healthy 12 percent in China, while North American sales grew by 5 percent despite the recall debacle putting the company under scrutiny. In a statement, GM said that the sales momentum has come after the launch of several new models in China, Europe and North America and will keep the momentum going for the company.
Apart from markets like the US and ours as well, the Volkswagen Group has been doing good on a global scale. Along with Toyota, the German giant also plans to surpass the 10 million mark this year, much earlier than actually anticipated. Last year too, Toyota maintained the lead with 9.98 million unit sales followed by General Motors and Volkswagen in third place. However, the fight seems to be getting aggressive between GM and Volkswagen for second place as the latter is rooting for the second spot. Surprisingly, the world’s three largest automakers by volume are struggling to find growth in India.
