Volkswagen Group Is Officially The World's Largest Carmaker

2016 was a tough year for the Volkswagen Group with the Dieselgate scandal affecting its generally impeccable reputation in the United States and around the world. But even the largest ever automotive scandal the world has ever seen has not stopped the Volkswagen group from regaining the title of the World’s largest carmaker for the year 2016. According to published figures, Volkswagen delivered 10.31 million cars (1.03 Crore) in 2016. One of Its biggest rivals, Toyota, on the other hand have published a sales figure of 10.17 million cars (1.01 Crore) and a total production figure of 10.21 million cars (1.02 Crore) for the duration of January to December 2016. 

Comparatively, General Motors who have not yet released official date about 2016 sales are slated to be the third largest auto manufacturer with an estimate of about 9.5 million (95 lakh) cars sold. Compared to 2015 figures, the Volkswagen Group is up almost 3.8 percent (9.93 million cars in 2015) whereas the Toyota group is up by 1.3 percent (10.08 million cars in 2015). 

(2018 Volkswagen Tiguan LWB)

General motors held the position as the worlds largest car maker for nearly seventy years until Toyota took over the crown in 2008. In 2011, the Japanese car maker slipped back due to the tsunami that hit Japan and the consequent damage and destruction it caused to production facilities, suppliers and of course, cars that were already ready to be dispatched. Volkswagen’s growth this year has been attributed to growing sales in China that have gone from about 60,000-80,000 units a year to over 1,00,000 units a year for 2016. 

The Volkswagen group has also aggressively forayed into the SUV space this year with an expansion of its SUV portfolio. Specifically, the new 7 seater Volkswagen Atlas for the United States and China and the Skoda Kodiak for most of Europe will help drive sales in 2017 even further. The new small Polo-based SUV from the Volkswagen group will also help it grow in 2017, especially in India where the SUV and crossover body style is the fastest growing auto segment.