In this Nov. 9, 2012 file picture a worker fixes a sign at a Volkswagen Golf car during a press tour in Zwickau, central Germany. Automaker Volkswagen is raising the bar for its plunge into battery powered cars, saying it will reach its goal of 1 million e-autos per year two years earlier than planned. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer,File)
In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 file photo Volkswagen unveils its VW I.D. Space Vizzion autonomous electric concept wagon at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Volkswagen and a German consumer group said Thursday they will conduct talks on a possible settlement in a landmark case in which hundreds of thousands of people aim to establish a right of compensation for cars affected by the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
File--- Picture taken May 14, 2019 shows complete Golf car bodies at the assembly line during a press tour of the plant of the German manufacturer Volkswagen AG (VW) in Zwickau, Germany. The first ID. production electrical vehicles are to roll off the assembly line at the end of 2019. Only e-cars will be built at Zwickau in 2021. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
File---Picture taken Sept.10, 2019 shows a painted Volkswagen T1 old-timer cruising over the fairground at the IAA Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany. The T1 was built from 1950 to 1967. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen has announced record annual sales that could determine whether it keeps its crown as the world's largest automaker.
The company based in Wolfsburg, Germany, said Tuesday that it delivered 10.97 million vehicles in 2019. That compares with 10.83 million in 2018, when Volkswagen edged out the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance and Toyota, although the alliance was slightly ahead when trucks are removed from the totals.
The alliance and Toyota will report their figures in coming weeks. Toyota in December estimated its 2019 total would be 10.72 million, which would leave it behind Volkswagen.
General Motors held the title for more than seven decades before losing it to Toyota in 2008 and no longer has a shot at the top spot after selling its European business and closing other money-losing operations.
Volkswagen underlines that it does not set being the sales leader as a business goal but focuses instead on its financial results. The company's diesel scandal, in which it rigged cars to cheat on pollution emissions tests, came amid a push under former CEO Martin Winterkorn to dethrone Toyota as No. 1 in sales. The company has since pivoted in the wake of the 2015 scandal toward electric cars as the industry seeks to meet tougher limits on greenhouse gases.
Volkswagen was able to increase sales despite shrinking global auto markets. That means its market share increased against the competition. Sales were boosted by strong results in its home market in Germany, the U.S. and in Brazil, while sales slipped in the Asia-Pacific region.
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