VW retains title as world’s top seller

Source: Xinhua | 2019-01-31

Volkswagen Group has held on to its position as the world’s top-selling automaker for the fifth year in a row, although the German group was edged out again by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in the light-duty vehicles segment.

Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp together sold 10.76 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2018, according to Reuters’ calculations after new data released yesterday. The group doesn’t sell heavy trucks.

Nissan said yesterday it sold 5.65 million vehicles last year, down 2.8 percent on the year. Mitsubishi reported an 18 percent rise in sales to 1.22 million units while Renault sold 3.88 million units, up 3.2 percent on the year.

Volkswagen’s deliveries rose 0.9 percent to a record 10.83 million last year, including its MAN and Scania heavy trucks, it said this month. Excluding heavy trucks, it sold 10.6 million units.

Toyota Motor Corp retained its third spot, announcing yesterday that it had sold 10.59 million vehicles last year including its Toyota and Lexus brands, along with minicars made by subsidiary Daihatsu and light and heavy trucks produced by its truck division Hino Motors. Excluding Hino trucks, Toyota sold 10.39 million units last year.