German firm thinks car sales next year will remain at 2009 levels

Volkswagen expects worldwide car sales to remain at 2009 levels next year, according to a top company executive.

Francisco Garcia Sanz told a works council meeting in Wolfsburg that the stagnation of the market should allow VW, the world’s third largest manufacturer, to catch Toyota and General Motors.

“In our current planning for 2010, we are assuming a similar sales volume level for the overall passenger-car market as in 2009,” he said.

"Worldwide we are still number three by unit sales but have really closed the gap with the leaders. That should spur us on to shift up a gear, especially in the current situation.”

In the first six months of 2009, VW group sales trailed Toyota and GM by less than 500,000 units.

The top ten best selling groups from January to June 2009 (units):

1. Toyota Motor Corp. (3,564,105)2. General Motors Co. (3,552,722)3. Volkswagen AG (3,100,300)4. Hyundai-Kia (2,153,000)5. Ford Motor Co. (2,145,000)6. PSA Peugeot-Citroen (1,586,900)7. Honda Motor Co. (1,586,000)8. Nissan Motor Co. (1,545,976)9. Suzuki Motor Corp. (1,152,000)10. Renault SA (1,106,989)

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