Emissions Scandal - Volkswagen clinches record sales in 2017
AFP quoted Volkswagen as saying that it sold a record number of vehicles in 2017, putting it on track to hold on to the title of world's largest carmaker two years after its "dieselgate" emissions scandal. Some 10.74 million vehicles from VW or its subsidiaries ranging from Porsche and Audi to Skoda and Seat rolled out of dealerships last year -- an increase of 4.3 percent over the previous year.
Chief executive Matthias Mueller said in a statement that "We are grateful to our customers for the trust these figures reflect." VW's sales look likely to outstrip Japanese rival Toyota's, whose annual figure for last year is expected to stand at around 10.35 million units.
Nevertheless, the Wolfsburg-based group is still facing a growing challenge from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, which also laid claim to the top spot.
Its chief Mr Carlos Ghosn told the French national assembly that, excluding trucks, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi sold 10.6 million vehicles worldwide last year.
Mr Ghosn said that "The alliance is the world's biggest carmaker, that's just been confirmed," adding that the VW figure includes 200,000 heavy trucks, which shouldn't be included in the total.
VW's strong performance underlines its recovery from the blow it was dealt two years ago, when it admitted in September 2015 to cheating regulators' emissions tests on millions of diesel cars worldwide. It has since begun to rebuild its reputation in some of the world's most important markets, with Chinese sales adding 5.1 percent to 4.2 million vehicles last year and US sales rising 5.8 percent to 625,000 vehicles.
Growth was more spectacular in South America, at 23.7 percent, but sales only reached 522,000 units in absolute terms.
Meanwhile, sales in Central and Eastern Europe including Russia rose by 13.2 percent to 745,000 vehicles.
Source : AFP