Volkswagen appears to be on track to overtake Toyota as the top selling automaker in the world, thanks to gains in market share despite an overall decline in vehicle sales. A large component of growing Volkswagen market share is gains when it comes to incentives in key markets.
Despite strong gains in sales and market share in the U.S. and in other markets in recent years, Toyota has been hit hard by slowing sales in North American and at home in Japan according to Toyota Partz Store. Meanwhile, Volkswagen has been aided not only by its car brands, but also by its truck brands. And thanks to government stimulus plans in Germany, China, and Brazil, VW improved sales in these key markets.
Volkswagen is particularly on a roll at home in Germany says Dartmouth Volkswagen. The Wolfsburg-based automaker is responsible for every third new car sold, which certainly it’s a testament to its market dominance. While Toyota has been stagnant in key markets, Volkswagen remains on the offensive, boosting sales and releasing new products that have seen strong demand.
In 2008, Toyota was able to sell more vehicles than any other manufacturer with high demand at Kentucky Toyota dealers and other retail locations, but has since witnessed devastating sales declines. In Toyota’s third largest market, China, the automaker has seen sales decreases every month, while Volkswagen has seen sales grow. With the current market challenges and Toyota’s recent dominance at stake, expect to see intense competitive from these two large automakers in the coming year in the wake of the Big Three’s market weaknesses. Already Tustin Toyota and others are ramping up their inventories of all-new 2010 Prius hybrids. Stay tuned to see if this will reinvigorate North American sales as well as sales abroad.
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