The Truth About Cars Announces The Top Ten Automakers Of 2010

Now that most of the large car companies have supplied their numbers, TTAC has compiled its annual table of the world’s largest automakers. In doing so, we have attempted to come as close as possible to the methodology used in the official OICA list, which will be published some time this summer. Here is the 2009 version as a reference. And here are TTAC’s Top Ten of 2010:

Top Ten Automakers 2010

* According to data reported by companies, sources hyperlinked, see remarks

The OICA list is the industry benchmark for motor vehicle production. Therefore, we have tried to replicate its methodology as closely as possible. This means:

• Use the manufacturer groupings as in OICA 2009
• Use all motor vehicles built by a manufacturer, from mini vehicle to heavy truck
• Use production, not sales

The OICA methodology is debatable and is being constantly debated, but we are not here to change it. We are trying to come as close to the final ranking as possible. The idea of this list is not to put a new spin on matters. The idea is to give our readers data for which others have to wait half a year.

This list is as good as its sources. We have used official data delivered by the manufacturers only. The sources are hyperlinked. The only exception is Hyundai Group, it leads to an article where the official data from Hyundai and Kia are aggregated to comply with their joint OICA reporting.

Where we had a choice of production or sales, we took the production number, as required by OICA. The exacting Japanese are usually very precise in their data delivery. They carefully separate sales from production and give you tables that even capture CKD kits in transit. Other countries and companies are more opaque. If no production number is given, we need to take what we have. Where “deliveries” or “sales to wholesale” are specified, that number is usually close to “production.” Rarely does a manufacturer count a car as sold when it is actually sold to the end user.

For comparison, the 2009 production number and rank are given. They are single sourced from OICA.

The percentage change number is a calculated number for reference only. It measures the difference between the 2009 OICA number and the reported 2010 number. If manufacturers use different numbers than what they report to OICA, this calculated percentage will differ from theirs.

This list remains a work in progress. It is not unusual that a number appears in these year-end releases, then another number appears in the annual report, only to be followed by a different number at OICA. Even after OICA publishes a number, it does not remain cast in stone.

Nissan for instance reported to OICA an annual production of 2,744,562 units for 2009. In Nissan’s new 2010 production and sales release, that 2009 number rose to 2,953,216 units. That’s a good 200,000 more. Why? No idea.

Whether groups aggregate their numbers or not is up to the groups. If Nissan and Renault would report together, they would have unseated the Volkswagen Group from its #3 spot. But Nissan and Renault so far never reported together. They issued a joint press release though. Volkswagen and Suzuki could also pool their production, arrive at 10 million units and make that exercise utterly boring. (Speaking of which, message to the scribes who like to jump the gun: The Volkswagen number does NOT include Porsche yet. It most likely won’t include it in 2010 either.) If Fiat and Chrysler would report together, they would still be on the list, in most likely. But they don’t report together. When the manufacturers change their reporting, we will change with them. Before, we won’t.

The list itself needs no commentary, it speaks for itself. For easier reading, the position changes were marked green for up and red for down.