In the battle for motoring supremacy, VW has finally surpassed Toyota in worldwide vehicle deliveries. A few years ago plans were implemented by the German firm to significantly increase sales, with the target of becoming the biggest volume manufacturer on the planet. With this news it looks like VW will achieve the target three years ahead of D-Day. Not bad going. But with the Chinese economy on shaky ground, the industry as a whole may take a significant knock, making VW’s victory a bittersweet one. – Miles Downard
Craig Trudell and Masatsugu Horie
(Bloomberg) — Volkswagen AG surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. to become the biggest automaker by deliveries in the first half, putting the company on track to capture the worldwide sales crown three years ahead of its target.
Toyota on Tuesday said it sold 5.02 million vehicles in the six months through June, trailing the 5.04 million that Volkswagen reported earlier this month.
Volkswagen benefited as car demand in Europe accelerated at the fastest pace in 5 1/2 years, softening the blow from a slowdown in China, its biggest market. To achieve its goal set in 2007 to become the world’s largest automaker, Volkswagen will have to withstand the slump in demand brought about by China’s volatile stock market and competition from cheap SUV models by Chinese brands.
A global auto industry that has expanded every year since 2009 faces a stalling market in China, collapsing demand in Russia and weakness in some Southeast Asian and South American countries. In the U.S., industrywide deliveries increased just 4.4 percent during the first half of the year, putting the market on track for its smallest annual gain since the recovery began.
“The extent of the recent softness exhibited by many markets was not anticipated at the beginning of the year by either the companies themselves or by the market,” Clive Wiggins, a Tokyo-based analyst at BNP Paribas SA, wrote in a report Monday. Japanese carmakers may cut sales forecasts and need cost reductions and currency gains to avoid having to reduce their outlook for earnings, he said.
China Slump
China’s passenger-vehicle sales fell for the first time in more than two years in June as economic growth slowed and a stock-market rout dented consumer sentiment. Global automakers will manufacture fewer vehicles in China this year than they are able to because of slowing demand, a reversal after years of rushing to build new factories, Sanford C. Bernstein analysts said in a report this month.
Toyota bucked the market trend with a 42 percent gain during the month and boosted sales during the first half by 10 percent to 512,800 vehicles. Volkswagen’s deliveries during the first six months fell 3.9 percent to 1.74 million.
Christian Klingler, Volkswagen’s sales chief, said earlier this month the company was “not immune” from market trends in China and that conditions in South America and Russia market in China is changing and that conditions in South America and Russia “remain tense.”
In Europe, the longest stretch of economic growth for the 19 countries using the euro has put auto sales on more solid footing in countries where Volkswagen dominates.
Europe Sales
The German carmaker boosted sales in its domestic market and in broader Western Europe by more than 6 percent, helped by the VW Passat sedan and Porsche’s Macan compact SUV. Toyota’s registrations in Europe climbed 5.7 percent during the period, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
In the U.S., Toyota outpaced the broader market by posting a 5.6 percent gain, driven by demand for its Lexus NX and Toyota RAV4 compact SUVs. By comparison, the VW, Audi and Porsche brands combined increased sales by 2.4 percent.
Both companies struggled in Japan during the first half, where demand has been weak since last year’s sales-tax increase. Deliveries slumped 8.2 percent for the Toyota and Lexus brands and 13 percent for Daihatsu.
Sales in Japan plunged 17 percent for VW, putting the brand on track to fall behind Mercedes-Benz as the top-selling import for the first time in 16 years.
