VW-Porsche Overtakes Toyota as World's No. 1 Auto Maker

One of six customized Limited-Edition 2010 VW GTI MkVI

VW-Porsche has produced 4.4 million units this year, while Toyota has cut its production and only made 4 million vehicles so far

By Alex Ricciuti
November 10, 2009 10:15 PM
Filed Under: Corporate/Financial, German, Industry, Toyota, Volkswagen

VW-Porsche has overtaken Toyota as the world's largest automaker, but the stay at the number one spot may be very temporary.

Volkswagen Group, having merged with Porsche, has had an output this year of 4.4 million units, while Toyota has produced 4 million vehicles since January 2009.

According to auto industry analysts IHS Global Insight, Volkswagen benefited from programs in Germany, the UK and China meant to spur car sales, while Toyota put the brakes on heavily during the automotive crisis that hit the industry late last year and early in 2009 and cut production substantially, slashing it almost in half from 2.1 million units to 1.1 million.

But Toyota is likely not about to cede its title for too long. After the collapse of GM, Toyota became the world's largest automaker, producing 9.24 million units in 2008. It is expected to only make about 7 million for 2009. But the Japanese automaker has a production capacity to manufacture about 10 million vehicles a year, far more than VW-Porsche. It is quite likely that once the crisis has passed, Toyota will once again be number one.

 

Source: guardian.co.uk via jalopnik.com

Comments

Siawa
November 10, 2009 10:50 PM
Nice. I really do like the new VW fleet. Much better than Toyota.

9TNine
November 10, 2009 11:44 PM
Think Toyota are not exactly honest with their production nor reliability figures anyway!

Nice one VW!

carcrazy1234
November 11, 2009 7:56 PM
what makes u say that? hahhah wow. statements and no proof. and also who cares about how many cars the company produces, its all about the amount of vehicles the company SELLS am i right? supply vs. demand people

9TNine
November 12, 2009 12:56 PM
One day, you’re going to grow up and be able to afford a car better than a Toyota. Then you’ll wonder why you ever liked Toyota’s. But some people never attain good driving skills throughout their lives, or can never afford a good car, then for them Toyota’s are just fine… :)

N20_Purge
November 10, 2009 11:53 PM
Cool, at least VAG make some cars poeple are actually interested in.

dnipete
November 11, 2009 1:56 AM
Enjoy it while it last! Go Toyota!!!

carbonfibreguy
November 11, 2009 8:31 AM
toyota fanboy much? To me it doesnt matter about numbers in production, it matters about the quality of the product and how its made. Even though volkswagen might not produce the best car, how many people do you see roll around in a VW? Compared to toyotas "im the mcdonalds of the car world", only a few...

Lamborghini
November 11, 2009 1:59 AM
Great news and I really hope that VW-Porsche can keep this position. Who wants Japanese crap anyways...

fattychrisbmw
November 11, 2009 6:55 AM
like 95% of population?

carcrazy1234
November 11, 2009 7:54 PM
hahhahhahha fatty chris lmao. well dissed :P

dnipete
November 11, 2009 2:03 AM
Enjoy it while it last! Go Toyota!

khlbt
November 11, 2009 2:04 AM
Good one VW...keep it up and stay up there :)

maloparac
November 11, 2009 2:22 AM
The Judgment Day has come. King is dead, long live the King

...maybe thats why it is called Volkswagen, because folks are buying them so much


Edited by user on November 11, 2009 at 2:23 AM
H3LUX
November 11, 2009 3:47 AM
GM will strike back ,you just wait

smohed
November 11, 2009 8:16 AM
May be in your dreams

electra
November 11, 2009 4:32 AM
It is nice to hear the news for VW... Ford and Hyundai could also climb to the number 1 spot...

tootall
November 11, 2009 7:06 AM
Hmmmmm..... I hope they hang on to that position as long as possible.

error32
November 11, 2009 10:51 AM
Even V-P hang on the 1st position, It's not likely they are going to produce porsches for everyone of us, still golfs and polos.

Michael
November 11, 2009 11:02 AM
Read very carefully that piece of news. It is about output (production) not about sales. From January to September, VW produced 4.4 million cars and sold 4.76 million cars. On the other hand, Toyota produced only 4.0 million cars but sold 5.65 million. Probably the explanation is that Toyota had to get rid of the large amount of cars produced in the second half of last year, when the crisis began. So, Toyota is still the no. 1 automaker as far as sales are concerned. Furthermore, GM could still be no. 2, even though the gap between GM and VW narrowed very much.

justbored
November 11, 2009 12:50 PM
At least someone who's not a brainwashed VAG-fanboy...

9TNine
November 11, 2009 3:26 PM
I have read it very carefully and do not see the sales figures you've quoted...

PawL
November 11, 2009 1:32 PM
I hope with the future volkswagen sedan for US market they will increase the sales in US to make sure they keep their position.

yulei
November 11, 2009 2:08 PM
I like VW car more than Toyota,because Labo,AUDI,BENTLEY,Porsche.

9TNine
November 11, 2009 3:29 PM
I prefer Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Porsches and Bugatti's too...

lexakis
November 11, 2009 4:09 PM
learn how 2 read!!!!u see something and u think that the stupid germans are ahead of toyota.hahahahaha.it's all about production....not sales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!be careful before u comment on something u don;t know!!The car in front is always a toyota!especially now that toyota is shifting to sport models...bye bye vw.and remember ...toyota is only selling toyotas and not skoda seat audi vw porsche etc etc.however hard u r trying toyota will be no1 in sales who cares about production!!!!

Michael
November 11, 2009 4:37 PM
Toyota, Daihatsu, Hino, Lexus, Scion. Not as many as VW, but not only Toyota. Just remember that last year Toyota sold 2.7 million units more than VW. Now the gap is only 900.000 units after 9 months. So the gap is narrowing very fast. VW is extending its market share and makes profit despite the economic crisis, while Toyota is burning a lot of cash. If VW could be more present on American market, than it may threaten Toyota global leadership.

fusion01
November 11, 2009 7:21 PM
What fanboys. All I know is my VW has rattled since day zero on a new car - Golf 5 GTI and I've spent a lot of time, and money tracking them all down and getting them fixed. Doubtful a Japanese car like Toyota would do the same, they're put together well. They always score higher on the reliability ratings (and score higher customer satisfaction scores) than VW in South Africa.

James2911
November 12, 2009 10:00 AM
Thats why Volkswagen switched production of the current Golf (MkVI) to Germany instead of South Africa.

Faithback
November 12, 2009 9:55 PM
Shifting production of Golf MK6 out of SA won't help! Will these cars be serviced in Germany? We'll still have to face local VW! I concur that the East (Toyota et all) have better growth prospects. While their cars have been less than breath-taking, reality soon catches up with some of us who've been German car fans... Every male in my extended family is no longer a VW loyalist.

Toyota's real threat is from Korea and China, not VW.


Edited by user on November 12, 2009 at 9:58 PM
GTurbo
November 11, 2009 9:24 PM
It's got to happen some time as VeeDub are already Europe's biggest car maker! Well done. I should be proud of this milestone since my 2years plus mk4 Golf GTi has hardly skipped a beat at 127k miles plus! Yes I admit Toyota have an ace up their sleeve and will regain their status very soon, but let's enjoy this moment VeeDub and Porsche fans!

alex_w115
November 12, 2009 10:53 AM
why the title of this article states 'VW-Porsche', and not 'VW-Seat' or 'VW-Skoda' or 'VW-Audi-Bentley-Bugatti-Lamborghini-Porsche-Seat-Skoda'?

Michael
November 12, 2009 11:11 AM
Because under the Volkswagen AG umbrella there are several brands: volkswagen, bugatti, lamborghini, bentley, audi, seat, skoda, scania. And because now VAG and Porsche are undergoing a merger procedure. In fact, Porsche will become a brand of Volkswagen AG, and the group will be probably rebadged Auto Union.

Xanavi23
November 13, 2009 4:44 PM
Good for VW but as michael said in a previous post, VW only built more cars, whereas Toyota sold a a bit more. Which is particularly impressive given in the biggest North American market they only sell Toyotas(no Scions in Canada) and Hinos are only available to the commercial market. So it is good for VW but nevertheless it isn't as much an accomplishment as when Toyota took the top spot.

justbored
November 16, 2009 10:38 AM
Please update this. http://www.leftlanenews.com/not-so-fast-toyota-retains-title-of-worlds-largest-automaker.html

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