{"id":71083,"date":"2014-01-31T13:14:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T18:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=71083"},"modified":"2014-01-31T13:14:07","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T18:14:07","slug":"volkswagen-claims-second-place-for-2013-global-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2014\/01\/volkswagen-claims-second-place-for-2013-global-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen Claims Second Place for 2013 Global Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Volkswagen is laying claim to selling the second-most vehicles in 2013 behind Toyota and ahead of GM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Volkswagen AG reported it sold 9.73 million vehicles worldwide in 2013, which puts it in second place for the year well behind Toyota and slightly ahead of General Motors.<\/p>\n

Toyota sold 9.98 million units and while finishing third, GM sold 9.71 million cars and trucks. However, VW\u2019s claim to second place isn\u2019t quite so\u2026simple.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Last Word!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The VW Group has more than a dozen brands across the world including Audi, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche and Seat.<\/p>\n

The German maker\u2019s totals include those brands as well as heavy-duty truck sales from its MAN SE and Scania AB units. GM doesn\u2019t sell heavy-duty trucks so the argument can be made that GM is the second-best selling automaker among light-duty vehicles.<\/p>\n

Toyota\u2019s not above the fray on this as it includes sales from its Hino Motors and Daihatsu units. The Japanese maker was the top seller from 2008-2010 after GM held the title from 1931 through 2007. It captured the top spot in 2011 as Toyota productions suffered because the natural disasters that hit Japan.<\/p>\n

While the German company\u2019s \u201cascension\u201d to second place may be debated, it\u2019s desire to be No. 1 cannot. In fact, VW executives have repeatedly laid that out as their goal by 2018.<\/p>\n

(VW celebrates 65 years of the Beetle in the U.S. For more, <\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The company is looking to expand its sales in the U.S. to more than 1 million Volkswagen and Audi vehicles by 2018. VW chief Martin Winterkorn reiterated that commitment during the North American International Auto Show earlier this month.<\/p>\n

VW is expanding its product offerings in the U.S. to make sure that happens, including revealing it plans to introduce a seven-passenger SUV that will be sold exclusively in North America by 2016.<\/p>\n

(<\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong> to see how Ford will prove aluminum is tough enough.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The new SUV is expected to be similar to the CrossBlue concept vehicle, which has been shown during past auto shows, the vehicle is currently in the development stage, according to VW of America\u2019s new boss, Michael Horn.<\/p>\n

(To find out why it\u2019s the Super Bowl of excess, <\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s driven in the test version and expects it will sell well once it\u2019s introduced. Horn added that VW will have to round out its portfolio to ensure it makes the 1 million vehicle goal. While not committing to any product in particular, the German maker\u2019s line-up lacks entries in the small SUV\/CUV and truck segments. Horn said the company has no plans to build a truck, but declined to comment about a small ute in the company\u2019s future in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volkswagen AG reported it sold 9.73 million vehicles worldwide in 2013, which puts it in second place for the year well behind Toyota and slightly ahead of General Motors. However, VW includes heavy-duty truck sales in its totals, which GM doesn’t sell so the claim is somewhat dubious. For more, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4389,"featured_media":64860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71083"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=71083"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=71083"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=71083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}