While German carmaker Volks-wagen has long been a successful company, who would have imagined even as recently as a few years ago that it would be in a position to challenge the “big boys” as the leading automaker in the world?
Volkswagen, that’s who!
It was five years ago that Volkswagen set its sights on becoming the biggest carmaker in the world – by 2018. But now, years ahead of that timetable, Volkswagen may be poised to seize the No. 1 spot from General Motors, the dominant player in the industry for decades.
En route to that goal, Volkswagen’s sales have already surpassed those of big Japanese manufacturer Toyota. Japan’s economy has been in dire circumstances for years, and it is suffering lingering ill effects of the earthquake and tsunami that struck there early this year.
GM, meanwhile, is still recovering from bankruptcy.