Toyota global number 1 no more, as Volkswagen pips it to the post; General Motors’ numbers awaited!

Led by a resurgent new Volkswagen Jetta, whose sales have been a full 55% higher than that of the previous version’s and a Passat, which is slowly getting stronger, the Teuton car brand edged out Japanese automaker Toyota as the world’s number one car maker in terms of volumes. Volkswagen sold 8.14 million cars worldwide in 2011, compared to Toyota’s 7.9 million units in 2011. What wasn’t helping matters for Toyota though, were the series of production lapses due to a a series of natural calamities like earthquakes, typhoons and floods.

2012 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan

So, it would be foolish to write Toyota away as the car maker could very well bounce back in 2012, a time when Toyota will hope that production will carry on at normal levels. Even so, the series of production disruptions at Toyota could have triggered a shift in consumer preference, however small it might have been. Folks averse to buying anything non-Toyota might have experienced new brands like General Motors and Volkswagen, many of them becoming converts. This, will be the larger implication that Toyota might have to deal with in the coming times. The spate of recalls that Toyota ordered is another factor of concern.

2012 Toyota Camry Sedan

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is targeting a sales of 10 million units in 2012, a number that is almost 25% higher than its 2011 volumes. So, if Volkswagen does manage to achieve its targets in 2012, Toyota will find it increasingly difficult to gain back market share that it loses if the market doesn’t expand from its current levels due to various economic uncertainties across the globe. All said and done, we’ll have to wait for General Motors’ numbers due shortly, to decide who really has topped the sales charts in 2011. Keep an eye out on this space.

Via CarAdvice

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