VW top-selling carmaker globally

• Published On: 31 January 2017
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Strong demand from China played crucial role in VW’s sales; Toyota registered sales decline in the US.

Not very long ago, the Volkswagen group took a huge hit to its reputation when news of the diesel-emissions scandal broke out. Cars produced by the VW group were found to use a ‘cheat device’ to defeat emission norms, a news that heavily impacted makers of diesel cars. However, just over a year later, the company has managed to emerge as the best-selling automaker in calendar year 2016, edging past Toyota.

Growing 3.8 percent year-on-year, the Volkswagen Group sold 10.3 million (1,03,12,400) vehicles worldwide in 2016, while Toyota sold 1,01,75,000 vehicles, growing 0.2 percent year-on-year. .

Among the global, markets, it is China that played a crucial role in VW’s growth spurt, largely because it was unaffected by the diesel scandal; China doesn’t allow the sale of diesel cars. Where VW did take a hit in sales is in Europe – its second largest market – where 2016 sales did see a dip by 4 percent.

As for Toyota, demand for its cars has seen a drop in the US, while growth of the brand in China has slowed down.