VW is about to become a world leader

Worldwide sales of Volkswagen this year will grow by about 13 percent to 8.1 million vehicles.

Volkswagen is looking good to claim the crown as two of its biggest rivals, Toyota and General Motors, have run into trouble.

The T brand has been hit hard by its reliability and safety concerns in the world's largest showroom, the US, and has suffered in many other countries, including Australia, due to production problems caused by the Japanese tsunami and earthquake earlier this year.

Volkswagen is already number one in Europe with sales of 2.8 million vehicles, nearly three times the annual sales in Australia. Meanwhile, General Motors is still recovering from bankruptcy and has also been affected by sluggish home sales in America.

The Volkswagen Group has been aiming for the number one spot for several years under the aggressive leadership of Ferdinand Piech and predicts it will hit the target in 2018 as it aims to increase its annual global sales to around 10 million vehicles.

The company is spending close to $100 million to ramp up global production as well as developing a wide range of new models, currently led by the value-driven Baby Up.

But due to problems with his competitors, three forecasters now say he will finish in first place at the end of 2011. The respected JP Power in the US, as well as IHS Automotive and PwC Autofacts, believe that global sales of Volkswagen will increase this year. increased by about 13% to 8.1 million.

Its biggest successes are in China thanks to the Volkswagen brand, but the VW Group can also claim totals from a huge number of brands, including Bugatti, Bentley, Audi, Seat and Skoda. At the same time, the total number of Toyotas, according to Power forecasts, will fall by 9% to 7.27 million.

The Japanese downturn is worse than it looks, as it could also cost Toyota second place behind General Motors after hard work to become world number one in 2010. by December 8, the pinnacle of world motorsport will be very tight.