VW Passes Toyota (TM) And GM As World's Largest Car Company

Toyota (NYSE:TM) did not keep its top spot as the world’s largest car company for very long. It held the crown for about a year. Industry statistics show the new VW-Porsche combination has produced 4.4 million cars this year compared to only 4 million by Toyota.

According to The Guardian, Toyota’s cut in production helped VW take the top spot. Toyota could ramp up manufacturing again as the recession ends and move into the  No.1 spot once more.

VW may be helped by the fact that it sells almost no cars in America.

The German auto firm has been criticized for holding less than a 1% share of what was, until this year, the world’s largest car market. Forty years ago, the Beetle made VW a force in the American car business. It allowed the Japanese to take away the fuel-efficient, low-cost part of the industry. VW never recovered. The mistake has plagued VW for years.

The real growth in the global car and light vehicles industry has moved to China and South America during the last two years. VW’s dominance in the markets of Europe has also grown. The firm has been clever about shifting assets to areas of the world were the downturn has had little effect on sales. VW and GM are tied for the lead in total car sales in China. The Chinese market is growing at a rate of nearly 70% year-over-year and has passed the US in terms of vehicles sold.

VW may still rue the day that it did not use it foot hold in America to get the sort of share that Nissan or Honda (NYSE:HMC) have. But, at least this year, it can claim that the US market is almost unimportant.

Douglas A. McIntyre