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Toyota holds onto crown of World's Largest Automaker

Although there were hints and allegations that the Volkswagen Group might have taken the global sales crown for 2014, the final tally puts Toyota at the top with 10.23 million sales in 2014. We should really say it keeps Toyota at the top, since that makes three years in a row the Japanese company has been No. 1. Volkswagen Group came in second with 10.14 million units sold, General Motors in third with 9.92 million units sold. This the first time for both Toyota and Volkswagen to pass 10 million sales in a single year. Toyota, including its Hino and Daihatsu divisions, did it with a three-percent increase in company-wide sales on the back of strong demand in Japan and the US. Its strength in developed markets might be the reason it loses the title this year, though; Toyota forecasts a two-percent gain in sales outside of Japan, but a nine-percent drop in its home market because of a new consumption tax that encouraged buyers to purchase before the end of last year. On top of that, turmoil in Southeast Asian economies like Thailand and Indonesia depressed sales in 2014 and they're facing more headwinds. The company envisions 10.15 million sales in 2015. Volkswagen, on the other hand, "has a jet engine strapped to its back called 'China,'" where Toyota is out-of-sorts. Volkswagen Group sales fell 2.9 percent in the US last year, while Toyota gained 6.2 percent here. But Volkswagen roped in 3.7 million sales in China, a 12-percent increase. Toyota enjoyed a huge bump of 12.5 percent in China, but that only got it to 1.03 million units, missing its yearly target and leading to trouble with its Chinese dealers over unsold inventory. With Toyota on the Chinese sidelines while Volkswagen guns for No. 1 status and pledges more production capacity in China – sales there are expected to top 25 million units this year – it looks like this could be the year the VW Group takes over the lead. That would be three years ahead of its original target of 2018. An analyst in Japan said Toyota is more focused on "keeping profitability than chasing numbers" – profitability is an issue for VW right now – so Toyota might not be back at the top "for [the] coming years." News Source: Bloomberg, Automotive News - sub. req. Earnings/Financials GM Toyota Volkswagen Car Buying Daihatsu sales volkswagen group

VW chair says component cost decrease keeps him confident of EV success

Volkswagen AG is in the middle of implementing a comprehensive electric vehicle strategy, one that we've been documenting for a long time. The Group stands ready to offer dozens of plug-in vehicles in the coming years if it feels there is sufficient demand and believes that selling a million EVs in Germany by 2020 is reasonable. That would be a solid number, but remember that VW sold over 5,923,000 passenger cars around the world last year, and the group as a whole sold over 9.7 million. At the company's annual Media Conference and Investor Conference in Berlin recently, the chairman of the board of VW AG - surrounded by some decidedly non-green examples of the VW Group's vehicles (some absurd new Bugatti, for example) - took some time to put the company's EV plans into focus. The upshot is that Dr. Martin Winterkorn is still guiding his electromobility ship into new waters, saying that "many more [plug-in] models will follow." Winterkorn said there are three main reasons he is confident in the ability of VW (and Audi and Porsche, at the very least) to push EV sales upward. Batteries are getting better, he said, and if the ranges can be extended, then customers are happy. But the real secret lies in reducing component costs. He said (as translated): It is important to look at the cost of the components: the battery technology, the electric motor and the electric components. Whenever you go into volume production, you of course have economies of scale. In two to three years' time, if we are able to achieve the goals we are setting for ourselves with cost and reach sufficient volume, I do believe that we can achieve two to three percent [market share] within VW Group. So, hitting a million EVs by 2020 is reachable. With the e-Golf and the e-Up off to excellent sales starts, we're willing to be confident as well.

Meet ZelectricBug, the amazing '63 VW Bug converted to EV power

No word a lie, we here at AutoblogGreen are fans of classic cars. What we are not fond of, however, is the pollution that their inefficient engines create, and so it's great to see our old favorites lovingly up-cycled with electric drivetrains. The ZelectricBug is a beautiful example of how new, cleaner life can be breathed into an old Volkswagen Beetle. Now, we first came across this particular automobile during the Refuel event last summer and we were struck by its cleanly done conversion then. Aside from a few snaps in our gallery, though, we didn't give it the kind of attention it deserves. Fortunately, the good folks over at Roads and Rides have rectified this by turning their pro video camera skills onto the 1963 V-Dub and producing a nice little segment to accompany their write up. Scroll below to see the finished footage and head over to their website for some stills. If all this gives you a hankering for your own Zelectric, the company does have plans to sell to the public starting this summer. If you don't want to wait, EV West, the guys who did the drivetrain work on this car, have conversion kits available for Beetles, as well as a number of other vehicles. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.