Car giants: Toyota stays ahead of GM and VW

A However VW was able to shorten the gap to Toyota and GM. Renault-Nissan and Hyundai-Kia follow behind the biggest three.

GM just behind Toyota

According to the analysis that Dudenhöffer made on the occasion of the Auto Show in Detroit and that of the dpa news agency on Sunday (9.1.), the Japanese Toyota group achieved worldwide sales of 8.4 million vehicles last year - after 7.8 million in the previous year. The group, which also includes the small car maker Daihatsu and the commercial vehicle manufacturer Hino, lost mainly in Western Europe, but at the same time grew in Asia and other markets. According to the analysis, the US automaker General Motors achieved worldwide sales of 8.2 million cars after 7.5 million in 2009. GM was able to grow particularly strongly in China.

According to the analysis, the VW group continued in 7.1 million vehicles last year. This is a significant increase over the previous year when the company sold 6.3 million cars. VW grew across the group, especially in China. The company wants to become the world's largest car manufacturer by 2018 at the latest and is then aiming for annual sales of ten million vehicles.

The fourth-largest car manufacturer is the Renault-Nissan group with 6.7 million vehicle sales in 2010 - after 6.1 million last year. Then comes Hyundai-Kia. The South Korean car company increased its sales in 2010 from 4.6 million vehicles in the previous year to 5.7 million.