Volkswagen beats Toyota as worlds top car-seller, in Q1

Volkswagen AG has surpassed Toyota Moto Corp in terms of global sales for the first quarter of the 2016 calendar year, threatening its four-year reign as the highest-selling auto brand in the world. While Toyota deliveries dropped by 2.3 percent to 24.6 lakh units, the German carmaker’s rose by 0.8 percent to 25 lakh.

This was an unexpected feat achieved by the Wolfsburg manufacturer after being embroiled in the massive emission scandal. However, its ascent was helped by a one-week shutdown of Toyota’s domestic assembly plants, in February, which is said to have affected a negative production growth of 17 percent.

And now, the Japanese carmaker could be further handicapped as a result of recent earthquakes in Japan; the most devastating since March 2011. Anticipating losing output of another 80,000 vehicles in the adversity, Toyota could be in for a tough fight to retain its position at the top of the sales charts for a fifth consecutive year.

READ: Earthquake affects car production in Japan

Toyota on Monday stated that it had resumed production at five of its 30 lines in Japan. It is expected to resume operations at a total of 18 production lines by Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s rise to the top between Jan 2016 and March 2016 was propelled by a significant sales growth in Western Europe and China by 3.5 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

The German carmaker was in a similar position last year as well, topping the charts for the first quarter of 2015. However, the emission controversy came to the fore soon thereafter and the rest is history. VW has already set aside an astounding 16.2 billion euros (Rs 1,21,677 crore) to cover the costs of the scandal that had emerged from the installation of a cheat software.

Volkswagen recently unveiled its new T-Prime Concept GTE at the ongoing Beijing Motor Show 2016, along with its all-new Magotan, Phideon luxury saloon and the zero-emission MPV BUDD-e. It plans on further extending its reach in the Chinese markets in the coming couple of years.

Image source: Bloomberg