VW, BMW favourites to add market share

believe the German car maker will gain market share globally jumped 11 points to 81 percent, according to KPMG. BMW was second at 70 percent, up 7 points from last year’s survey.

“VW has been number one for the last three years, but to continue and to have an 11point increase, I was taken aback by it,” said Gary Silberg, the national motor industry leader for KPMG.

Toyota, which suffered a hit to its image when it recalled nearly 19 million cars from 2009 to early 2011, showed the biggest gain, KPMG said. It finished third at 68 percent, up from 44 percent last year.

Hyundai and Kia finished at 61 percent, down 2 points from last year and 11 points below its score in 2011, KPMG said. Nissan was fifth at 50 percent, followed by Ford and General Motors (GM), each at 44 percent. In 2010, only 13 percent of those polled thought GM would increase its market share.

Fiat and its Chrysler unit ranked ninth at 37 percent, in between Daimler (41 percent) and Honda (34 percent), KPMG said. The brands most often predicted to lose market share included Fuji Heavy Industries’ Subaru, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Suzuki.

When including newer emerging brands, KPMG said the top 10 would include four Chinese car makers: BAIC Group (third), SAIC Motor (sixth), FAW Group (seventh) and Geely (eighth), as well as India’s Tata (tenth). However, their shares are much smaller, so gains would not be a surprise.

KPMG also found that 64 percent of executives polled said their companies would increase investment in new plants over the next five years, up from 55 percent last year.

KPMG polled 200 senior global industry executives in November for the 14th annual survey. The majority were from outside North America.