Figures reveal that Volkswagen was the world’s biggest selling vehicle maker in the first half of 2015, surpassing Toyota’s sales for the first time.
Between January and June this year, Volkswagen sold 5.04 million cars across the globe. That figure beats the 5.02 million cars sold by Toyota in the same time period. The sales number for Volkswagen takes into account the various car brands owned by the company, which include Audi, Porsche, SEAT and Skoda.
These figures actually represent a decline for both companies when compared to the first half of last year. However, while VW only suffered a 0.5 per cent decrease, Toyota’s global sales have gone down by 1.5 per cent.
Volkswagen had previously set out to beat Toyota for global sales by 2018, but the German manufacturer has now achieved that goal three years early. Analysts believe that VW’s achievement has largely to do with improved success in the Chinese market, as well as reduced demand for Toyota in this country.
Across the twelve months of 2014, Volkswagen sold 10.1 million cars in total, and the brand is aiming to “moderately” exceed that figure by the end of this year. Toyota, meanwhile, recorded 10.23 million sales in 2014, but expect end of 2015 sales to lower to around 10.15 million.
Toyota has topped the chart for annual global car sales in every year since 2008, with the exception of 2011, when General Motors (which owns brands including Vauxhall) came out on top.
