The future is now when it comes to Renault-Nissan's Carlos Ghosn's prediction that the alliance would be the third-largest automaker by 2018.
Earlier this year, Carlos Ghosn, the leader of Renault-Nissan, said he expected his company would eventually become the third-largest automaker in the world by 2018.
Ghosn set the 2018 target during the Geneva Motor Show this year, but the future is now based on early 2015 sales results. The automaker has squeaked past General Motors through the first two months of 2015 by selling 1.185 million vehicles worldwide: 2,000 more vehicles than the Detroit-based automaker.
GM is actually looking at a possibility of finishing No. 5 worldwide by the end of the year of Hyundai-Kia can muster a little bit of a push. The Korean conglomerate is just 36,000 units beyond GM through February.
It’s quite a change from when as little as four years ago when GM was the world’s largest automaker. It swapped spots for that position with Toyota, which reclaimed it in 2012. The Detroit maker was the world’s largest for decades until 2007 when Toyota surpassed the company for the first time.
During the company’s bankruptcy, officials noted that being the biggest wasn’t the goal, but the most profitable and that it wouldn’t chase marketshare, especially in the U.S. However, after emerging from bankruptcy, it regained the top spot briefly.
GM’s race with Renault-Nissan is not the only contest attracting attention in the first quarter of this year. Focus2move, an automotive data reporting company in Italy, also reported Volkswagen AG pushed past former No. 1 Toyota 1.627 million to 1.479 million.
(Ghosn aims to make Renault-Nissan third-largest global automaker. For more, Click Here.)
The race pretty much ends with the top five, according to Focus2move’s numbers. Ford comes in at No. 6 with 864,699 vehicles sold through February. The rest of the top 10 includes Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda, Suzuki and PSA, respectively.
(Click Here for details about Ford, Toyota investing $3.5 billion in Mexico.)
In North America, sales are going strong and expected to hit 17 million units this year, but the low gas prices that have helped to fuel that boom aren’t just limited to the U.S. Global auto sales are expected to rise 1.5% this year, according to IHS Automotive.
(To see more about VW and Toyota going to war for global supremacy, Click Here.)
“There is an upside opportunity with lower oil prices,” Mark Fulthorpe, director of light-vehicle forecasts, said, according to Automotive News. “There are 5 million to 7 million units that could be directly affected.”