VW set to become world No2 car maker
April 7, 2009 by Matt Brogan
After recently being knocked from top spot by Toyota – a position General Motors held for 76 years – it seems likely the United States’ largest car manufacturer will again slip later this year with Volkswagen expected to jump up a spot from third.
According to R.L. Polk, Germany, global new car sales are expected to fall by 19 percent this year, totaling just 52.8 million units, with GM expected to bear more of that burden than VW because of its exposure to the US market.
The US market alone is expected to be down more than 34 per cent this year (as compared to 2008) with some analysts expecting GM’s production to decrease some 31 per cent by the year’s end.
However, VW is much less susceptible to fluctuations in the US market, resulting in a predicted 15 per cent decline in new vehicle production this year. Accordingly, VW will pass GM to become the world’s second largest automaker.
VW has its sights set on becoming number one by early next decade and having just last year displaced Ford’s number three spot, it would seem the German manufacturer is well on its way.
Print it: 
Not a surprise, look at VW’s current car range, all great cars except the uninspired Beetles.
I used to own an Accord Euro, it was a very very good car and I liked it very much. However after changing it to VW, I found in comparison, the Accord Euro feels more like a toy, rather than a machine.
But I have to say, the VW interior design is pretty boring.
ratle in the dash… man i still wanna get that mk6 golf. and yeah germans are really good at power to fuel economy. and high torque at low revs.
chinese Driver – quite right, I’m not aware of any japanese made interiors that have the same quality and design of German marques, up market ones or not. Audi lead the way in interiors IMO.
More than 60,000 people in 27 countries have anonymously voScoring 86.53 out of 100 in a survey conducted by New York-based private research and consulting firm Reputation Institute, the Big T came out as number one amongst the world’s top 1,000 companies on perceptions of trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling.
No other car company was listed in the top 30. Volvo came in at 32nd, Honda 39th, BMW 88th and Daimler 99th.
Google came in behind Toyota which also led from Swedish furniture retailer IKEA and Italian chocolate-maker Ferrero.
In a more local study, Australian Reader’s Digest has also reported that Toyota is the most trusted automotive brand in the country. Mercedes-Benz came in second, followed by BMW, Holden, Honda and Mazda. Mitsubishi came in last (no doubt affected by its Adelaide plant closure).
ted Toyota as the world’s most respected company.please do not compare toyota’s vehicles with yours crap falcons and commos.they are in different class and league.dinosaurs are dinosaurs.JUST DO NOT COMPARE LEMONS AND AN APPLE.
wow…I mean just, like,…WOW!
Readers Digest’s readers say that Toyota is the most trusted auto brand in Australia. I could have a field day with this. Where did you find that? On page 53, after the knitting patterns?
Hopefully as supply increases their costs will come down a bit and they do a Japanese on a Japanese and they copy how Toyota achieves good reliability!