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Toyota Stays Ahead of Volkswagen as World’s Biggest Automaker

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2017 Toyota Tacoma Exterior

A long time ago, the Big Three Detroit automakers were also the world’s largest automakers by production. Today, while General Motors remains among the global top three, the fight for the top spot is all about Toyota and Volkswagen.

Toyota has held the number one position for some time now, but Volkswagen has recently made a lunge to try to get back ahead—and the German automaker is quite close, despite the recent “dieselgate” emissions scandal that saw it lose millions in shares and recalls.


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At the end of 2015, both Toyota and Volkswagen had produced over 10 million and while the latter has been growing even faster than Toyota throughout 2016, the Japanese automaker is still ahead. These are the numbers:

Toyota vs VW Production

In a race for the biggest production numbers by the end of 2016, it doesn’t get much closer than this. Toyota is ahead, but only by 336 units. Volkswagen may even seem to be the one with the upper hand thanks to its higher growth rate, which would move the automaker ahead should those percentages the same toward the end of 2016; however, it’s important to note that Toyota was actually lagging behind Volkswagen earlier this year.

As mentioned, General Motors is far behind the two automotive giants, and may not even be third by the end of the year. Now that Nissan has acquired Mitsubishi, the combined production numbers of Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are expected to exceed the 10 million mark as well, enough to bump it up to third on the global stage.

Essentially, this is all just a meaningless contest for automakers to show off their big… well, you know. Still, it’s fun to watch.


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