Volkswagen passes Ford in world sales

Last year, Ford Motor Co. for the first time ceded second place in U.S. auto sales to Toyota, a historic blow for the giant from Dearborn, Mich.

Now it appears it may lose another title: world's third-largest automaker.

Volkswagen AG said today that for the first six months of the year, it had surpassed Ford in global sales by selling 3.31 million vehicles, about 220,000 more than Ford. VW did that by increasing sales by 7.2% for the period, while Ford sales declined 3.4%, to 3.09 million vehicles.

That puts VW behind only Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Corp. in the race for planetary car emperor.

Toyota surpassed longtime ruler GM for the first half lead.

Volkswagen only holds 1.4% of the U.S. market. Throwing in its Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini units, that creeps up to 2%. Yet, ironically, that could be part of its key to success this year, as exposure to the slumping U.S. market has been painful for most automakers. Even Toyota has blamed decreasing profits on the U.S. market's woes and today said it would scale back its forecast for 2009 sales, in big part because of further expected weakness in the U.S.

Ford has a 15.3% share in the U.S. as of July, and this is by far its most important market. While VW/Audi/Bentley sales have been flat in this country this year, Ford's sales here have declined 14% year to date. So even though Ford had a 2% increase in Europe, and 21% in China, it wasn't enough to stop the massive sucking sound from domestic shores. 

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is huge internationally, with massive, well-established operations in Latin America, a growing role in China, Russia and India, not to mention its leadership in home turf of Western Europe, where it also markets its Seat and Skoda brands.

One could practically hear the crowing all the way from VW's Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters.

"This shows that we are on the right track with our ever-stronger international presence and, above all, our product program," said VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn in a statement. "We will systematically push ahead with our growth course even in the present difficult market environment."

One key for VW, globally, has been its smaller, fuel-efficient cars, something it's focused on for decades. This month, VW began delivery of the first 50-state-legal clean-diesel car, rated at 34 mpg -- better than any cars except hybrids and the Smart ForTwo. And at a time when U.S. automakers are slowing production and idling some plants, VW in July announced that it would build a $1-billion plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., to create a new car for the U.S. market.

A Ford spokesman said the company's "sole focus is on transforming Ford into a lean global enterprise delivering profitable growth over the long term."

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Raymond]

I haven't driven a Ford for almost eight years. Why? Two words: Volkwagen Passat. The Passat surpasses Taurus and the sporty Mustang in style and efficiency. As for quality: Ford doesn't even come close. Who can forget changing out the transmission at 75k miles for the Taurus, or watching the thing begin to disintegrate at 90k. Ford didn't have a plan for the end of freon use. You were supposed to sweat out the summers or buy another one. Built-in obsolescence. You can't win loyalty by picking the consumer's pocket.
Passat gives a better ride. The Audi engine and Porsche transmission are far superior to Ford. There is plenty of power delivered to the front-wheel drive Passat. It even hyper-miles better than just about anything on the road.
I own a Toyota and Honda, too. With the kind of performance and problem-free driving I'm having with these three vehicles, I don't imagine I will ever come back to a domestic product.
But, never say never.
If Ford and GM can make an affordable car that runs on alternative fuels, I might consider a domestic again.
Then again, I'll be having too much fun driving my Passat to notice.

[Tony Tex]

Congratulations to Volkswagen. Another blow to an American car manufacturer. If American car manufacturers plan to survive this brutal market, they must think on long-term profits and the global market. The cars built for the US can not be marketed anywhere else as they guzzle gas like if it was selling for a buck.
Volkswagen on the other hand produces mediocre products. Their vehicles are plagued with annoying problems that turns customers away from the brand. Yes, they build cheap vehicles mainly for the third-world and this is where they have built a niche. However, the Japanese and mainly the Koreans are really after this market. In the US, their sales will remain flat as consumers demand better quality and not just goods looks.

[Wade Jurgensen]

The real question is, when is Volkswagen bringing back the original Beetle, not that new Beetle that lacks any of the charm of the original? They wanna kick the pants off Ford, they'll start selling that again. What Ford needs to learn is that if you're making crappy cars and doing it for no profit you aren't going to survive very long. It makes me so sad to see the demise of the American auto industry...can't they take even a single page from the books of the European automakers? From the Asian automakers? From the Indian automakers? From anyone but their same old Model-T playbook?

Just desserts, that's what I say. Just desserts.

[pk-mesa]

But lets face it CHIP FOOSE IS ONE OF THE BEST GUYS AROUND, did anyone see the 63 nova he put together for the kid from PASO ROBLES