Rides : General Motors is the world leader in car manufacturing

The North American based automaker General Motors is the 2011 world leader in car manufacturing after a three-year break.

General Motors has taken advantage of Toyota’s problems due to the natural disaster that hit the Eastern coast of Japan in March 2011 and managed to sell 9.025.942 cars in 2011, which is actually 7.6 percent more compared to the previous year. The Volkswagen Group’s sales also increased compared to 2010, and the Germans managed to sell 8.160.000 cars in 2011, 14.3 percent more compared to the previous period. The “podium” was closed by none others than the Japanese from Toyota, who, despite the hard time, managed to sell 7.900.000 cars world wide in 2011, 6.2 percent less compared to 2010.
The unexpected “growth” of the Chevrolet brand was one of the main reasons for GM’s record sales, and more than half of the cars sold by the automotive giant worldwide in 2011 were wearing the Chevrolet badge on them. Chevy had sold 4.71 million units last year, 11 percent more compared to 2010, and the best markets for the sub-brand were the United States (1.77m cars, +13%), Brazil (632.000) and China (595.000). The Chevrolet best-seller in 2011 is the Cruze, with the compact car selling in 670.000 units worldwide.
General Motors sold most of its cars in China, 2.55 million units, 8.3 percent more than in 2010, and the second market for GM was the US, with 2.5 million units, 11 percent more. Europe has “bought” 1.73 million GM cars in 2011, 4.4 percent more than in 2010, where Opel was the leader, with 1.21 million cars sold in 2011, compared to 1.18 million in 2010.