VW edges GM in Q1 global sales to take at least No. 2 spot

DETROIT: Volkswagen Group edged out General Motors again to take at least second place in the race to be the world’s top-selling automaker.

The German automaker said it sold 2.49 million Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and other brand vehicles from January through March. That was up 1.8 percent from a year ago.

GM said it sold 2.42 million Chevrolet, Opel, Buick, Cadillac, GMC and other branded vehicles, up 1.9 percent from a year ago.

Toyota says it will report firstquarter global sales next week. The Japanese company has been the world’s top-selling automaker for the past three years.

General Motors said that it had sold 2.4 million vehicles globally in the first quarter, up 2.0 percent yearon-year as China sales boomed.

“The momentum our brands are building in China, the US and Western Europe more than offset difficult conditions in some other large markets like Russia and Brazil,” said CEO Mary Barra in a statement.

Sales in China, the world’s largest auto market, surged 9.4 percent in the first three months of the year to 961,135 vehicles compared with a year ago.

GM noted that beginning this quarter, it was reporting deliveries to customers in China, as it does with other markets. Previously it had reported quarterly wholesale deliveries in China, which are cars and trucks sold to dealers.