Photo: Catalin Garmacea
We don't have official press releases from all the automakers, but initial data suggests Volkswagen Group is now the biggest car company in the world, overtaking Toyota, who actually registered a decline in demand during 2014.
This is the first time a European company stood at the top of this automotive totem poll and it was only possible thanks to increased demand for the Audi and Skoda brands, both of which performed better than expected. The quattro people reportedly had 9.3% more sales, according to Focus2move, while Skoda registered a 10.2% boost on China demand.
All-in-all, Volkswagen Group managed to deliver 9,919,305 automobiles over the course of 2014, very close to the 10 million mark. Toyota actually registered a decline in sales of 2.3 percent. 9,818,609 models were delivered, 224,511 fewer than in the previous year.
Believe it or not, both the Renault Nissan and the Hyundai Kia groups came very close to overtaking the American giant who was once the envy of the industry. Carlos Ghosn's firm delivered 7,947,606 cars, only about 70,000 fewer than GM. The Koreans came in 5th with 7,550,383, registering a 4.1% combined increase in demand.
Even though the results are positive for Volkswagen, this editor isn't all that thrilled with how the industry is shaping up. Volkswagen invested hugely in all its brands to boost sales and most of the other companies who reported gains only did so thanks to demand in China.
Update: We spoke too soon. GM announced that it has sold 9,924,800 new cars around the world, which is 2% more than in 2013 and a new record for the company. So what we said about Renault-Nissan isn't relevant any more.
However, Volkswagen's total was 10.14 (prior year: 9.73; +4.2 percent) million vehicles handed over to customers worldwide from January to December 2014. So the Germans are still ahead, but only by a nose.
Update 2: Toyota finally revealed its numbers for 2014. The Japanese automaker sold 10.24 million cars, stating ahead of Volkswagen. It seems 2015 will be a hotly contested year.
All-in-all, Volkswagen Group managed to deliver 9,919,305 automobiles over the course of 2014, very close to the 10 million mark. Toyota actually registered a decline in sales of 2.3 percent. 9,818,609 models were delivered, 224,511 fewer than in the previous year.
GM almost overtaken by Renault-Nissan?
The fight over the 3rd and 4th spots appears to be just as big as the one over #1. General Motors, hit hard by recalls, only managed to sell 8,017,844 automobiles, 0.2% fewer than in 2013.Believe it or not, both the Renault Nissan and the Hyundai Kia groups came very close to overtaking the American giant who was once the envy of the industry. Carlos Ghosn's firm delivered 7,947,606 cars, only about 70,000 fewer than GM. The Koreans came in 5th with 7,550,383, registering a 4.1% combined increase in demand.
Even though the results are positive for Volkswagen, this editor isn't all that thrilled with how the industry is shaping up. Volkswagen invested hugely in all its brands to boost sales and most of the other companies who reported gains only did so thanks to demand in China.
Update: We spoke too soon. GM announced that it has sold 9,924,800 new cars around the world, which is 2% more than in 2013 and a new record for the company. So what we said about Renault-Nissan isn't relevant any more.
However, Volkswagen's total was 10.14 (prior year: 9.73; +4.2 percent) million vehicles handed over to customers worldwide from January to December 2014. So the Germans are still ahead, but only by a nose.
Update 2: Toyota finally revealed its numbers for 2014. The Japanese automaker sold 10.24 million cars, stating ahead of Volkswagen. It seems 2015 will be a hotly contested year.
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