VW Likely to Snatch GM's World's 2nd Largest Automaker Rank

Under the strong pressure of the economic turmoil, General Motors might lose the world's second largest automaker spot, automotive industry analysts at market research company R.L. Polk Germany said today. Polk forecasts that GM production is likely to decline by up to 31 percent which means German manufacturer Volkswagen will take the second place in this virtual hierarchy as its production is expected to drop only 15 percent.

"Volkswagen will therefore overtake ... GM and advance to become the new number two after Toyota," Polk said in a statement according to Autonews.

Opinions regarding the auto industry recovery are mainly divided into two different sides: some people think the auto sector would need up to several years to come back to the initial levels while others claim that with the help of governments across the world, the industry will quickly regain its pre-crisis figures.

Well, Polk estimates that the auto sector will show the first signs of recovery in 2010 when it is likely to increase production is most segments. This means the market would be capable of achieving a record production level of more than 70 million vehicles in 2012, the market research company said according to the aforementioned source.

Wondering if General Motors really cares about this? We don't think so because the American automaker is already on its way to bankruptcy even after the departure of CEO Rick Wagoner. Moreover, the company has never been interesting is such hierarchies - at least this is what it claims. Back in January, Toyota managed to surpass General Motors and become the world's number one car manufacturer.

GM's reaction? "This is not a measure that I pay a lot of attention to,” GM's Fritz Henderson said at that time.