Volkswagen is the World’s Biggest Automaker

This year has not been Volkswagen AG’s best, but after six months of 2016, it is the world’s biggest automaker. The German automaker has delivered some 80,000 more vehicles than its closest competitor, Toyota.

The news comes on the heels of a positive sales month for the Volkswagen brand. For the first time since January, the VW brand—the biggest and hardest hit wing of the Volkswagen empire—sold more cars in a month (June) than it did in the same month last year.

Whether or not this is a watershed moment for the brand remains to be seen, and whether or not Volkswagen AG will remain number 1 also remains to be seen, since Toyota traditionally does better in the second half of the year.

Despite that, the news is good for Volkswagen, whose expenses have been very high this year, cutting into their profits to the tune of 56%. Volkswagen set aside nearly $18 billion at the beginning of the year for expenses relating to the emissions scandal and the Wall Street Journal reports that second quarter charges suggest that more money will be going to the emissions scandal.

“This shows that the Volkswagen Group has high earnings power,” says Frank Witter, CFO, in a press release. “But it will require continued hard work to absorb the significant impact from the diesel issue.”

For now, though, thanks in no small part to a record setting month in China, Volkswagen has exceeded expectations.

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