Report - VW beats GM for 2nd spot in global sales race

India a big market neither for GM or Volkswagen.

The first three quarters of this calender year has seen Volkswagen nudging out General Motors from the 2nd spot in the global automobile manufacturers sales race. Toyota, like last year, is expected to stay in first position.

While GM reported sales of 7.37 million units from January to September 2014, Volkswagen has reported sales of 7.4 million units.

While Toyota doesn't release its figures for these quarters combined till the end of October, it was in first place by the end of the first half of the year at 5.1 million units. The Japanese major expects to close the year at 10.1 million units, up from the record-breaking 9.98 million units it had sold last year. In 2013, VW stood at 3rd place while GM was 2nd.

Not that India is a major market for either of these three global manufacturers, but all of them have major plans for the country. While Toyota's new India MD said that the country might soon become a global supply base, Volkswagen will launch an India-only compact sedan and a compact SUV in order to stake a claim to the sub-4meter market here.

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Ever since its massive recall for the Chevrolet Tavera, GM has been struggling to regain ground in India. A newly developed pickup truck by Isuzu-GM is set to enter production in India, and the 'Amber' platform will step in around 2017 to spawn brand new compact models to put GM back in the race.