The Race for Pole Position: Winning by a Nose

Abstract

In the race for the top spot in the automotive world, Volkswagen and Toyota have pulled ahead and pushed their competitors in categories such as sales, revenue, or technological leadership back to the second or third ranks. Volkswagen is now making gigantic leaps in an effort to overtake Toyota — the reigning champion it had called out four years ago and which has suffered so much since. American readers, meanwhile, may wonder where GM — for at least 70 years the world’s biggest carmaker — figures in this duel at the top.