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Toyota holds onto crown of World's Largest Automaker

Although there were hints and allegations that the Volkswagen Group might have taken the global sales crown for 2014, the final tally puts Toyota at the top with 10.23 million sales in 2014. We should really say it keeps Toyota at the top, since that makes three years in a row the Japanese company has been No. 1. Volkswagen Group came in second with 10.14 million units sold, General Motors in third with 9.92 million units sold. This the first time for both Toyota and Volkswagen to pass 10 million sales in a single year. Toyota, including its Hino and Daihatsu divisions, did it with a three-percent increase in company-wide sales on the back of strong demand in Japan and the US. Its strength in developed markets might be the reason it loses the title this year, though; Toyota forecasts a two-percent gain in sales outside of Japan, but a nine-percent drop in its home market because of a new consumption tax that encouraged buyers to purchase before the end of last year. On top of that, turmoil in Southeast Asian economies like Thailand and Indonesia depressed sales in 2014 and they're facing more headwinds. The company envisions 10.15 million sales in 2015. Volkswagen, on the other hand, "has a jet engine strapped to its back called 'China,'" where Toyota is out-of-sorts. Volkswagen Group sales fell 2.9 percent in the US last year, while Toyota gained 6.2 percent here. But Volkswagen roped in 3.7 million sales in China, a 12-percent increase. Toyota enjoyed a huge bump of 12.5 percent in China, but that only got it to 1.03 million units, missing its yearly target and leading to trouble with its Chinese dealers over unsold inventory. With Toyota on the Chinese sidelines while Volkswagen guns for No. 1 status and pledges more production capacity in China – sales there are expected to top 25 million units this year – it looks like this could be the year the VW Group takes over the lead. That would be three years ahead of its original target of 2018. An analyst in Japan said Toyota is more focused on "keeping profitability than chasing numbers" – profitability is an issue for VW right now – so Toyota might not be back at the top "for [the] coming years." News Source: Bloomberg, Automotive News - sub. req. Earnings/Financials GM Toyota Volkswagen Car Buying Daihatsu sales volkswagen group

Winterkorn vacates chairs on Audi, Truck & Bus boards

The last remaining vestiges of Martin Winterkorn's power within the Volkswagen Group are slowly melting away. The former chairman of the group's management board resigned as CEO nearly two months ago in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. He held onto other roles within the group, but one by one he's been vacating those as well. Last month Winterkorn resigned from his role at Porsche SE – Volkswagen's largest shareholder. Now the latest development comes from Bloomberg, which reports that Winterkorn has stepped down from his role as chairman of the supervisory board at Audi. Prior to his promotion to run the entire group, Winterkorn served as chief executive of the Audi division, and prior to his resignation served continued to serve as its board chairman. No date was given for his resignation from that capacity, nor any successor named at this point. Repeated requests for clarification from Audi have gone unanswered. In correspondence with Autoblog, however, spokespeople for VW's commercial vehicle operations confirmed that Winterkorn has also stepped down as the chairman of the board at Truck & Bus GmbH. The newly established division encompasses truck manufacturers Man and Scania. Winterkorn also served as chairman of Scania's board, but requests for confirmation of his departure from that role also went unanswered. The Swedish truck manufacturer, however, named Henrik Henriksson as its a new chief executive only a few days ago.

After VW scandal, new emissions tests may drive up diesel prices

However much Volkswagen has to aside to address the flak from the company's ongoing diesel-emissions scandal, it could still be less expensive than the cost of making diesels realistically adhere to stricter emissions-testing mandates. New rules are likely to be put into place as a result of the revelations that as many as 11 million VW diesel vehicles were programmed to game the emissions-testing system by triggering artificially low emissions levels. There's a potential problem, though, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Governments around the world are calling for more intense tests that would better simulate real-world driving conditions. Some of the mandates suggested by the European Union could make the process a costly one, however. And that would boost diesel-vehicle production costs to the point that the lower refueling costs via cheaper fuel and better fuel economy won't be able to justify the higher purchase price. According to Reuters, the ACEA issued a statement that said: The automobile industry agrees with the need for emissions to more closely reflect real-world conditions, and has been calling for proposals for years. However, it is important to proceed in a way which allows manufacturers to plan and implement the necessary changes, without jeopardizing the role of diesel as one of the key pillars for fulfilling future CO2 targets." Diesels have long been pushed in Europe because the lower carbon dioxide from the better fuel economy was thought to outweigh the additional nitrous oxides spit out by the oil burners. The push for "clean diesel" in recent years was supposed to reduce NOx emissions as well, but the VW story shows that this wasn't always the case. Rejiggered testing in Europe may start as early next year, and results may be available as soon as late 2017, but the whole point may become moot if automakers cut back on making diesel vehicles. The French government is already talking about eliminating diesel-vehicle subsidies in the wake of the scandal. Still, while new-diesel vehicle prices may rise, used-diesel prices may be falling. US auction prices for VW diesel vehicles are already down about 13 percent. UK diesel-vehicle prices have also declined, just not as much. Related Videos: