Toyota No. 1 Global Automaker In 2014, Volkswagen Close Behind
Once again, Toyota is the No. 1 largest automaker in the world, but Volkswagen is waiting close behind for the chance to take the crown.
Automotive News reports Toyota sold 10.23 million units in 2014 with help from its Daihatsu and Hino partners, the first time the automaker sold over 10 million units in a single year. Volkswagen took second on the podium with 10.14 million, and General Motors took third with 9.92 million.
2014 marks the second consecutive year Toyota has held the top spot, having regained it from GM in 2012 after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami greatly hindered production for the majority of that year. The automaker originally took the top spot from GM in 2008, the latter having dominated the podium for 80 years prior; Toyota also held the title in 2009 and 2010.
As for 2015, Toyota is forecasting deliveries of 10.15 million due to decreased demand at home and in emerging markets, as well as from falling oil prices and Japan’s increased national consumption tax. Volkswagen, meanwhile, is ahead of schedule as far as taking the crown goes, CEO Martin Winterkorn stating such a thing would occur by 2018 at the earliest before 2014’s results showed otherwise.
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VWs are just so god awful boring to look at, and from the few times I've ridden in them the interior is no better. Worse, they still look similar to the models that have been out for 10 years now, honestly the Camry is exciting next to VWs lineup.
Some people should get their heads out of the sand. I have owned Toyota, Honda, Datsun, Nissan & Mazda. Never went back to buying them. 20 years ago they were a lot of fun. Yes they were boring but cheap to keep on the road. I still own a Mazda Miata which i love to drive but my wife and i both own VW MK6 GTI's. We like to drive and like the feel of the VW's. Both cars are almost 5 years old this year and both have only been back to the dealer for the 3 years free service. To put a old tale to bed i had a Mk 4 Jetta before i brought a MK6 and the old window tale was the fault of TRW and VW fixed the windows free for 100,000 miles or ten years. The bad coils only were on the turbos and were also covered for 10 years. I had the 8V too slow. An excellent engine that i put 180,000 miles on driving back and forth to NYC. And yes my window fell in once and the dealer fixed it in 45 minutes the same day. Another thing the parts for my Mazda are twice the price i paid for parts on my MK4. I guess all of the recalls on the Toyota & Honda's are getting costly so they have to charge more for the replacement parts. Whatever everyone to their own poison.
C'mon Toyota let's keep a VW product out of the winner's circle at Le Mans this year!
Having come from a country that is festooned with VW's to the US, I can see the biggest difference is that Americans care much more about reliability than most of the rest of the world when purchasing a car. The big exception to this is the Jeep Wrangler of course. This is why in Europe a Honda is as uncommon there as a VW is here