Volkswagen pips Toyota to become the largest automaker

During the first half of 2016, Volkswagen sold 5.11 million vehicles in comparison to 4.99 million units sold by Toyota.

Volkswagen Group has ousted Toyota to become the world’s largest automaker. Despite the setbacks after its infamous diesel emissions scam last year, VW sold 5.11 million cars during the first half of 2016 as opposed to Toyota’s sales figure of 4.99 million units.

Between January and June this year, Volkswagen’s sales grew by 1.5 per cent while Toyota registered a drop of 0.6 per cent in its global sales. This, however, is not the first time that Volkswagen has pipped Toyota to become the best-selling car manufacturer. Even in the first half of 2015, VW Group was ahead of Toyota in the numbers game, although once the diesel emissions scandal came to light, Volkswagen’s sales slumped, allowing Toyota to retain the numero uno stature for 2015.

Having said that, the aftereffects of the diesel emission scandal were mainly seen in the US, where sales were significantly down. And since US is one of the smaller markets for the firm, it did not have much of an impact on VW’s global sales. Reportedly, in China and Europe sales are up by 3.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively, while in the US sales fell by 7.2 per cent for VW. On the other hand, Toyota’s production slowed down after an earthquake damaged one of the component suppliers’ plant in Japan.

Toyota has been reigning at the top since 2011. And now, it remains to be seen if Volkswagen would be able to maintain its lead over Toyota till the end of this year.

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