Volkswagen Is The Top Automaker In The World

Volkswagen badge (Credit: Volkswagen)

What happens when you’re caught deliberately cheating? Apparently you win, if you’re Volkswagen. The German automaker has been crowned the best-selling automaker for the first quarter of 2016.

Plenty of people thought the company was going down the tubes, thanks to Dieselgate. Volkswagen’s PR machine worked overtime, humming along like a well-tuned engine without any emissions cheat software, dead set on getting past the scandal. And it appears the strategy is working.

During the first three months of 2016, VW sold 2.49 million vehicles. Toyota was close, with 2.46 million total. GM came in third with 2.36 million sales, according to Bloomberg.

VW sales numbers were down in North America by 2.1 percent, but strong growth in Europe and Asia, particularly China, made up for it.