Volkswagen tops sales table again
Official figures show that most major automotive manufacturers suffered a downturn in sales in 2019 compared to the previous year. However, car sales statistics for the first quarter of 2020 make last year look like a golden period.
Volkswagen repeated the success of the previous year, being the number-one automotive manufacturer in 2019 in terms of units sold. The German group, whose brands include Audi, Seat and Porsche, delivered more than 11 million vehicles, an increase of 1.85% compared to the previous year.
In second place once again was Japanese company Toyota, which delivered 10.7 million vehicles, growth of 1.3%. Mercedes-Benz, with the much lower total of 2.45 million vehicles, growth of 6.5% year on year, was the only other major company to increase its volume of sales.
The two leading US carmakers, General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, both recorded a decrease in sales during 2019. During the 12 months, General Motors delivered 7.7 million vehicles, a drop of 8.3% year on year. Ford’s sales were down by a similar amount to 5.5 million vehicles.
PSA group suffered a drop of 10.5%, representing reduced sales close to 500,000 units.
Another company that experienced a decline in sales was Japan’s Nissan group which sold 5.2 million cars, down 8.8% year on year. The premium German automobile group, BMW delivered more than 2 million vehicles in 2019, maintaining its sales figure for the year.
