VW overtakes Toyota in global sales race

Volkswagen sold more vehicles globally than Toyota in 2016, taking the crown as the world's largest carmaker for the first time, results showed on Monday.

The Toyota group, which includes Daihatsu and Hino, reported that its global group sales edged up 0.2 percent from a year earlier to 10.17 million vehicles in 2016.

VW's number of global sales in the same year stood at 10.3 million vehicles, up 3.8 percent from the previous year, despite an emissions cheating scandal, the carmaker said earlier this month.

Toyota fell from the top spot for the first time since 2011, when manufacturers' supply chains were disrupted by a powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami in north-eastern Japan.

In 2016, Toyota's sales outside of Japan fell 0.5 per cent from a year earlier, to 7.94 million, due to decreased exports to North America, the carmaker's largest market.

Toyota downplayed its relinquishment of the title to VW.

Toyota not chasing volume

"At Toyota, we are not focused on chasing volume. We believe that our sales volume is just the result of our focus on making ever-better cars and providing better customer experiences," the carmaker said in a statement.

"Our goal is to be No 1 with consumers by engineering and producing ever-better cars. We are grateful to every customer who has chosen a Toyota vehicle," it added.

In September 2015, the German carmaker admitted it had installed equipment aimed at manipulating pollution tests on about 11 million diesel models around the world.

The scandal has so far cost Europe's biggest carmaker billions of euros and led to the indictment of six of its senior executives in the United States.

http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/vw-overtakes-toyota-in-global-sales-race-7558572

Seems Toyota also needs an emissions scandal then!

DrJohnZoidberg said:

Seems Toyota also needs an emissions scandal then!

Click to expand...

You know what they say any publicity is good publicity.

What a coincidence. Seems they're also leading in the "unintended acceleration" vs Dieselgate douche - off.

Though Ford looks to be closing in to form the ultimate despicable business practices trifecta.

Toyota is no longer the world's top-selling automaker

Toyota lost its crown as the world's top-selling automaker in 2016, company figures showed Monday, with the Japanese giant overtaken by Volkswagen as the industry prepares for an uncertain trade environment under Donald Trump.

The German automaker moved back into the top spot despite being hit by a massive emissions cheating scandal that rocked its reputation.

Emissions scandal

The carmaker, once a paragon of German industry, was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis after it emerged in September 2015 that it installed emissions-cheating software in millions of diesel engines worldwide.

However, the crisis seemed to have little effect on the firm's standing with drivers as it announced this month that annual sales rose 3.8% in 2016.

The results were boosted by strong performance in China which helped push total sales to 10.3-million, after slipping to 9.93-million in 2015. VW group also includes the brands Audi, Porsche and Skoda.

Toyota sold 10-million vehicles

On Monday Toyota said it sold 10.175-million vehicles worldwide last year, a 0.2% increase.

The annual figures come as the industry faces an uncertain outlook year with President Trump threatening punitive tariffs on imports into the United States in a bid to force them to manufacture and hire there.

Trump targeted Toyota in one his fiery tweets, criticising its ongoing project to build a new factory in Mexico and threatening it with painful tariffs.

He has also pledged to review several trade deals that he says are detrimental to American workers.

Toyoda to meet Japanese PM

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported Monday that Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, ahead of the latter's scheduled summit next week with Trump.

Toyota said it could not comment on the report, while Japan's chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga would not confirm it.

Toyota shares ended flat Monday.

"Toyota has problems in China, whereas VW is very strong in China and is using it as en engine of growth," said Hans Greimel, Asia editor for Automotive News.

"That's the difference that matters," he told AFP.

"They might be neck-and-neck right now but maybe long term you have to be a big player in China, and Toyota is still playing some catch-up there."

"In the US, another key market, Toyota has a big advantage over VW but it is running out of steam because it is not able to tap the boom there for SUVs as much as its rivals."

'Defeat devices'

Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 to installing so-called "defeat devices" in 11-million vehicles worldwide, after their existence was revealed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The software caused engines to reduce emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide when they were undergoing regulators' tests

VW agreed this month to plead guilty to fraud and pay fines amounting to $4.3-billion in the United States to close its emissions cases with the Department of Justice.

http://www.wheels24.co.za/News/toyota-is-no-longer-the-worlds-top-selling-automaker-20170130

TOYOTA TOPPLED! WORLD’S LARGEST AUTOMAKER IS NOW…

All the sales statistics for 2016 are finally in, and they tell quite a story. Yes, Toyota is no longer the world’s largest automaker in terms of global sales, losing its crown to Volkswagen.

After four years on top, the Japanese giant had to settle for second place in 2016, according to Automotive News.

The automaker’s global sales tally (with a little help from the Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino brands) increased by just 0,2% to 10,2 million vehicles in 2016. The Volkswagen Group, meanwhile, saw sales hit 10,3 million vehicles (which represents a 3,8% increase), finally claiming the crown.

The VW Group enjoyed particularly strong growth in China, managing to snatch the global sales crown from Toyota despite still dealing with the fallout from its diesel emissions scandal.

Toyota held the title of world’s biggest automaker from 2008 to 2011, with General Motors briefly reclaiming the crown in the latter year. But the Japanese automaker hit the front of the pack again in 2012, staying ahead of all competitors until 2016.

http://www.carmag.co.za/news_post/toyota-toppled-worlds-largest-automaker-is-now/

Toyota is the most Googled car brand worldwide

The Japanese manufacturer is the most popular car brand on Google globally, followed by BMW and Hyundai

Toyota is the most searched car brand on Google globally, according to a new study.

Despite the brand recently losing its title of the world’s biggest car maker to Volkswagen, it was most popular in Google searches in America, China, Australia and large parts of Africa.

US car parts firm Quickco sourced data from 193 countries worldwide. Toyota topped the charts, with the most Google searches in 74 countries, while BMW was in second place with 51 countries and Hyundai was in third with 17 countries.

The data also showed that the popularity of car maker searches doesn’t necessarily correlate to the home country of those brands. Only Germany (BMW), France (Renault), Sweden (Volvo) and Italy (Fiat) had a homegrown brand at the top of their respective search tables.

By comparison, Hyundai was not the top search of its native South Korea, with internet users more often searching for BMW. The German car maker also topped searches in Japan, despite that country being home to both Honda and Suzuki.

British brand Jaguar was only most searched in Belize, while Mini was popular in Laos, Nepal and Yemen.

Only one country had a supercar brand as its most searched-for on Google: Niger. Its citizens searched for Bugatti above any other car maker.

The study did not include countries from which it is difficult to obtain data such as North Korea, Iran or Cuba. Quickco also noted that while these manufacturers top individual countries' Google searches, it doesn’t necessarily mean more people overall searched for these brands. For example, small or sparsely populated countries such as the Marshall Islands and Mongolia could give a false impression of a brand's popularity.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/toyota-most-googled-car-brand-worldwide

http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/most-googled-car-brand-in-the-world-is-7568408