Toyota has announced its sales figures for the first half of 2012, and the numbers look like Toyota will be able to beat out GM and Volkswagen in sales for 2012. In the first six months of this year the Japanese automaker sold 4.97 million vehicles. The record shows how the juggernaut is rebounding from last year’s dismal sales, caused by the unintended acceleration publicity nightmare and the tsunami that demolished production capabilities.

General Motors was the world’s largest automaker in 2011, and it plans to release its figures for the first half of 2012 on Aug. 2. The General has already released first quarter sales figures and if the automaker keeps the pace up they will have sold 4.56 million vehicles by mid-year. The Associated Press predict GM will have reached figures closer to 4.7 million

Volkswagen was the second largest automaker in 2011 and has been a frequently named corporation when the discussion is about the world’s largest automaker. The German automaker’s sales for the first half of the year are at 4.45 million.

General Motors held the coveted title for over seventy years until 2008′s market crash when Toyota took it. Toyota held onto it until 2011 when GM took it back and VW took second place.

Toyota sold 2.49 million vehicles around the world in the first quarter of 2012. This is quite a bit more than the 2.28 million sold by GM. Toyota is expecting to sell 9.58 million vehicles this year. That will be a sales increase of 21 percent over last year.  Toyotas’s spokesman, Joichi Tachikawa, was modest in the typical Toyota fashion when discussing the announced figures. ”We can only keep trying to make good products that appeal to our customers.”

[Source:Associated Press]

Spanish automotive manufacturer SEAT, one of Volkswagen’s mainstream brands will be attending the Guangzhou Auto Show in China and looks to expand into the Chinese market by opening 15 dealerships this year.

SEAT announced that 12 of the 15 dealership agreements have already been signed and that the remaining three are in their final stages of negotiations, with deals to be finalized within the next few weeks.

SEAT will target the most important cities in China first, with dealerships opening in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu and Chongquing. The Beijing dealership’s construction has already commenced. SEAT also announced that only their Ibiza and Leon will make it to China next year. SEAT has struggled in recent years, and their entry into China should give the brand a boost, considering its wealth of critical success.

[Source: LeftLane News]

Volkswagen is experiencing unprecedented levels of success as for the first time in the German automaker’s history, 6.11 million vehicles have been sold in the first nine months of the year. If sales momentum continues, Volkswagen will easily surpass its annual target of 8 million vehicles sold for 2011.

Volkswagen Group Board member for Sales Christian Klinger takes an optimistic, yet more conservative stand, “We are also expecting very good delivery figures for the fourth quarter. We continue to keep a close eye on developments in global automobile markets, some of which are highly volatile.”

Areas of significant sales increases are 21.4 percent increase to 485,400 units in North America, 17.3 percent increase to 1.92 million units in Asia, 10.8 percent increase to 2.77 million units in Europe, and 9.5 percent increase to 700,900 units in South America.

Sales are broken down to 266,800 Seat vehicles, 664,800 Skoda vehicles, 973,200 Audi vehicles, 3.81 million Volkswagen vehicles and 389,900 VW Commercial vehicles.

Volkswagen‘s Spanish subsidiary SEAT is preparing to take on the task of assembling Audi‘s Q3 compact crossover, at their plant outside of Barcelona.

The move comes as a bit of a quid pro quo for Audi, since SEAT’s Exeo flagship is a re-badged Audi A4, and with SEAT’s flagging sales presenting an issue for Volkswagen’s overall profitability, the excess production capacity could be put to good use building a product that will surely be a hit. The move will also add between 700 and 1,200 jobs in a region that has been hit hard by the global recession.

The Q3 will share a platform with the upcoming Porsche Cajun, but the P-Car will be built at a separate facility in Leipzig, Germany.

[Source: SEAT]

SEAT TAKES ON 700 NEW STAFF TO BUILD AUDI Q3 IN SPAIN

For immediate release

SEAT is bringing some much-needed good news to the Spanish economy with the announcement of 700 new jobs at its Martorell plant near Barcelona.

SEAT and the Catalan government’s Department of Business and Employment have signed an agreement to train new workers to build the forthcoming Audi Q3 at Martorell. The agreement will see 1,200 people receive training, leading to the creation of at least 700 new jobs. The workers will be gradually incorporated into the company, beginning this Spring.

SEAT is also considering the possibility of hiring more of the trainees who successfully complete the training programme, depending on the company’s future production requirements.

The training and employment agreement was signed by F. Xavier Mena – the Catalan government’s Minister for Business and Employment – and Josef Schelschshorn, SEAT’s Vice-president for Human Resources, at the company’s Training Centre in Zona Franca, Barcelona.

The event was also attended by Esther Sánchez – Secretary of Employment and Labour Relations – and Ramón Paredes, Executive Vice-president for Governmental and Institutional Relations for SEAT and the Volkswagen Group in Spain.

Mr Schelchshorn explained that the Q3 project guarantees 1,500 jobs at SEAT, with 700 of those being new posts. He also highlighted the opportunity the announcement offers for young people in the region, saying: ‘We offer the chance to get further qualifications as well as the prospect of working for SEAT, one of the most important and attractive job creators in the country, on the basis of a long-term contract.’

Minister Mena thanked SEAT and the Volkswagen Group for their ongoing commitment to Catalonia, demonstrated most recently with the decision to produce the Audi Q3 at Martorell.

The training agreement falls within the Forma i Contracta (‘Train and Hire’) programme run by the Catalan Employment Service (SOC). The programme covers 100% of the cost of training in exchange for a commitment to offer at least 60% of those trainees who successfully complete the course a contract of not less than six months’ duration.

SEAT remains the only company in its sector with the capacity to fully design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell near Barcelona, and exports around 75% of its production to 72 countries. SEAT is the market leader in Spain and in 2010 had a turnover of around five billion euros, with total sales of 339,500 vehicles worldwide.

Despite the misfortunes of the SEAT brand, Volkswagen is planning to bring the Spanish automaker to China, where the appetite for cars seems limitless.

Volkswagen is planning to erect a booth for SEAT at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show, and eventually produce the cars at its assembly plant in Foshan around 2013. SEAT has faltered recently despite offering a range of affordable compact cars with a sporty bent. The brand lost 311 million euros last year, despite a 0.8 percent gain in sales. There is speculation that Volkswagen will kill the brand if it does not become profitable by 2015.

[Source: Automotive News]

2010 was overall a very good year for Volkswagen, but it could have been even better if some of the other brands they own also made a profit.

While Volkswagen had the most successful year in its history, selling 7.2-million units globally and making 7.1-billion Euros along the way, its brands such Bentley, Seat and Lamborghini lost a whole bunch of money last year.

Their British luxury brand Bentley lost 245-million Euros, despite a sales increase of 11% over 2009. Development costs for new models is part of the reason for its poor financial standing.

Their Spanish family car brand Seat had also underperformed. While sales were up 0.8% over 2009, their operational loss amounted to 311-million Euros.

Their Italian supercar brand Lamborghini has been hit very hard due to poor economic conditions worldwide, and while an exact figure is unknown, their sales were down by 14%.  This resulted in a decline in revenue by 10-million Euros.

Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkorn however is still upbeat and feels things will turn around. How many of these brands will be in the black this year remains to be seen.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen‘s funky SEAT brand looks to be getting into the crossover segment, with several renderings of a new 3-door model leaking ahead of a planned debut at the Geneva Auto Show this week.

According to Autoblog Spanish, the IBX Concept will compete in the same space as the Volkswagen Tiguan, and while one could assume as much, it’s not yet clear if it shares the same platform or engine choices.

Most SEAT models are simply rebadged Volkswagens, although perhaps VW has decided to give its Spanish brand some much-needed originality, especially if it’s going to compete in the small crossover segment, increasingly occupied by some more original vehicles.

Look for more on the SEAT IBX with AutoGuide’s 2011 Geneva Auto Show coverage starting March 1st.

GALLERY: SEAT IBX

Although Volkswagen and their respective brands occupied a massive section of the Paris Auto Show’s main hall, they were a little light on new product. This won’t be the case at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show in early March, as the Volkswagen Group will debut 7 concept cars at Europe’s main auto show.

Details are slim at this point, but Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda plus “plus one – if not two – for Audi,” according to the Group’s design boss Walter de’ Silva, the man behind gorgeous designs like the Audi R8 and Volkswagen Scirocco. Guigiaro, the legendary design firm acquired by VW in 2010, will also display two concept vehicles.

Most concepts never see the light of day, but even if the models shown are a PR exercise, they should help further establish Volkswagen’s credibility in their quest to be the world’s number one automaker by 2018, a goal that they have spared no hesitation in promoting over the past year.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen is planning to spread the platform love with its new Up city car, with Czech subsidiary Skoda being the first VW division to get the tiny car, with a SEAT-branded version to follow.

Packaged as a three-door five-seater, a 1.0L gasoline engine and a 1.2L diesel engine will be offered, with an all-electric version to follow. Starting at less than $10,000, the Up variants will go against the Toyota iQ and other cars deemed too small for North American tastes.

With Skoda and SEAT representing downmarket brands for VW in Europe, giving them the minicars is a no-brainer, and we expect them to be very popular, especially in light of how a Volkswagen Golf is something of a luxury good in high-tax countries.

[Source: Inside Line]

SEAT, Volkswagen‘s sporty, Spanish division, is known for taking old VW products, refreshing them, and selling them at firesale prices. SEAT’s newest concept, the IBE, shows what a SEAT coupe could look like. Perhaps the brand will get a version of VW’s Scirroco?

0-60 mph takes 9.7 seconds, which seems slow, until you consider that the car is all electric and powered by a 102 horsepower motor. “Connectivity” is stressed more than power, and that theme continues with an integrated smart phone interface. One neat feature though, is the option to play music from your device by “dragging” it from the player to the car’s stereo interface. Sure beats an iPod cable and a distracted driver.

Gallery: SEAT IBE Concept

Volkswagen looks to be following a brand strategy similar to Pokemon; “gotta catch ‘em all”. The company is aiming to increase its stable to 12 brands, and one of those under consideration is apparently Alfa Romeo.

While Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne denied reports that Alfa is for sale, the Italian sports car maker is considered a financial loser, selling only 100,000 cars in 2009, while bleeding funds. By contrast, Volkswagen’s SEAT brand, which is regarded as VW Group’s worst performing brand, sold 300,000 cars.

There has been analyst talk of VW using SEAT product badged as Alfa Romeos should the VW group acquire the iconic Italian car maker. While the concept seems unpalatable to die-hard Alfisti, the front-drive layouts of Alfas and VW group cars means that there would be an easy synergy between the two brands. And with Volkswagen’s fairly solid engineering and reliability, there may be an end to the notorious Alfa Romeo build quality jokes.

[Source: Reuters]

Volkswagen Group’s worldwide sales are up 15% compared to 2009, with the company moving 3.5 million units in the first six months of 2010.

While the company went on to sell 6.3 million units in 2009, CEO Martin Winterkorn believes that its goal of selling 7 million units in 2010 “will not be achieved easily”. “Especially in Germany, business will become significantly harder in the second half of the year,” said Winterkorn.

VW Group, comprised of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, SEAT and Lamborghini is aiming to sell 18 million units by 2018.

[Source: Autocar]