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The people want an empire, apparently, with that unassuming little black VW bug at the head of it.
The U.K.'s Guardian explains, "Volkswagen-Porsche has overtaken Toyota to become the world's largest car manufacturer as the German group benefits from state-backed stimulus packages around the globe." VW has "produced 4.4 million vehicles so far this year, outstripping its Japanese rival which has seen four million cars roll off production lines since January."
Ironically, VW reached the milestone in part by taking over Porsche - which it was forced to do after Porsche failed in an attempt to take over VW earlier this year.
"Of course," Autoblog notes, there is "some number play involved" in the Guardian's numbers. "We're talking about the combined entity VW-Porsche, which has built 4.4 million cars to date, which is roughly 400,000 beyond Toyota's mark. However, Toyota halved its production earlier this year and shut down all its plants in February." VW also "benefited much more than Toyota from the European cash-for-clunkers programs," though Toyota saw more sales than VW spurred by the U.S. version of the car-swap program.
The news doesn't just push Toyota down a notch. Jalopnik notes that VW has "passed Toyota and GM at the top of the heap." America's largest automaker - the world's largest just three years ago - now sits in third globally.
The change may not be permanent. The Guardian notes that Toyota "has the capacity to make 10 million vehicles a year but it expects to make seven million vehicles in 2009" as production picks back up. VW, however, may see its production increase long-term enough to stay ahead, or at least to take the title again even if it loses it later this year.
After all, Autoblog notes, "VW's also got the edge on Toyota" in the huge Chinese market, "where it has spent years introducing models."
For immediate release - Monday, June 29, 2009
San Diego - Volkswagen of America and Ford Motor Corporation were announced
today as full-line corporate leaders in Strategic Vision Inc.'s (SVI) Total
Quality Index® (TQI). Across their various brands, both corporations are
consistently producing vehicles judged high in perceived quality and emotional
delight, resulting in models that customers can love. Volkswagen of America also
had the greatest number of TQI leaders across the segments being measured than
any other brand: Rabbit, Jetta, CC, New Beetle, Tiguan and Audi A4. Ford has
Focus as the leader in the popular Small Car segment.
The Total Quality
Index® asks buyers to rate all aspects of the ownership experience from buying
and owning to performance and driving - much more than simply counting problems.
Results from studies that measure the number of problems or the overall
satisfaction of a vehicle do not measure the customers' commitment to, advocacy
for or loyalty to their vehicles accurately. "In today's difficult market, the
difference between products that generate consideration, build brands and
increase sales versus those that do not is often how much delight and love the
product generates with its customers," says Dr. Darrel Edwards, Chairman of
Strategic Vision.
Finally, in the Luxury categories the BMW X3 tied with the
Infiniti FX and EX on Total Quality. The Mercedes S-Class has again defined
luxury in its class, leading for the fourth time in the past six years. The Land
Rover Range Rover is the leader in the Luxury utility segment. Many other Land
Rover / Jaguar models also scored very well with models like the Range Rover
Sport, Jaguar XF and Jaguar XJ scoring just below top positions in their
segments.
Buyers rated the following vehicles tops in their segments:
| Segment | Winner(s) | TQI Score |
| Small Car | Ford Focus Sedan | 877 |
| Small Multi-Function | Volkswagen Rabbit | 889 |
| Mid-Size Car | Volkswagen Jetta Sedan | 891 |
| Large Car | Nissan Maxima Pontiac G8 |
900 899 |
| Near-Luxury Car | Volkswagen CC Sedan Audi A4 Sedan |
923 922 |
| Luxury Car | Mercedes-Benz S-Class | 934 |
| Specialty Coupe | Volkswagen New Beetle | 924 |
| Premium Coupe | Chevrolet Corvette Coupe | 938 |
| Minivan | Honda Odyssey | 865 |
| Entry Utility | Volkswagen Tiguan | 914 |
| Mid-Size Crossover Utility | Toyota Venza | 925 |
| Mid-Size Traditional Utility | GMC Envoy Toyota 4Runner |
859 858 |
| Large Utility | GMC Yukon XL | 899 |
| Near-Luxury Utility | Infiniti FX Infiniti EX35 BMW X3 |
906 904 904 |
| Luxury Utility | Land Rover Range Rover | 920 |
| Standard Pickup | Honda Ridgeline | 874 |
| Full-Size Pickup | Dodge Ram 1500 | 899 |