Dieselgate-hit Volkswagen falls as world's biggest carmaker
27 Oct 2015
In a double whammy for German auto giant Volkswagen, which first lost credibility over cheating emissions tests, it has now lost ground as the world's biggest selling car maker.
Japanese car maker Toyota has overtaken Volkswagen with 7.49 million cars sold in January-September this year against VW's sales of 7.43 million cars in the nine months ended September.
For almost the first half of the year, Volkswagen became the world's biggest carmaker, selling 5.04 million cars, about 20,000 more than Toyota, but lost out since then.
The worst is still to happen for Volkswagen as the full force of the emissions scandal is yet to be fully felt in its sales.
Volkswagen saw its emerging market sales drop in the first nine months of the 2015, with the largest 30 per cent drop coming from the Brazilian market.
Even two weeks after the emission test fiasco, VW's sales in the US and the UK have actually grown by 7.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively, this year. Analysts expect Q4 of 2015 to be very gloomy for Europe's biggest automaker.
However, the full impact of the emission test scam is yet to be felt, as Volkswagen could face further drop in sales. The car maker is also likely to face huge fines for cheating customers and pollution control authorities
Analysts are becoming more sceptical about VW's prospects. Many expect things to get worse for Volkswagen in the coming months as the dust settles on the emissions scandal.
The emission scandal is expected to result in substantial fine for Volkswagen in addition to the cost of recall and refitting of the vehicles.
Since the chief executive, Matthias Muller replaced Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen has recalled around 11 million vehicles worldwide.
The company has already said that it will cut investment in the Volkswagen brand by at least €1 billion (£720 million; $1.1 billion), and has set aside €6.5 billion to deal with damage claims and fines
