Despite all its diesel issues and bad publicity, Volkswagen ended 2016 as the world’s best selling group.
It knocked Toyota from top spot and the merged Renault-Nissan company was third with Hyundai in fourth place, GM beat Ford followed by Honda and Fiat Chrysler and top marques were completed by PSA Peugeot Citroen and Suzuki.
A South Korean court sentenced an executive of Volkswagen Group’s local unit to one year and six months in prison for fabricating documents on emissions and noise-level tests to achieve certification for vehicles for import.
This is the latest fallout from VW’s emissions-test cheating scandal that last year resulted in a sales suspension in South Korea, a once fast-growing market for the German automaker.
Penske Automotive Group’s two-year plan to build a network of used-only dealerships is closer to reality in Europe.
Penske said it has signed an agreement to buy CarShop which has five large-scale stores in the UK and a vehicle preparation centre capable of reconditioning 45,000 vehicles a year and sells about 20,000 cars annually.
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose import tariffs on Toyota Motor Corp over its Mexican-built cars brought into America, but the biggest risk from a punitive tariff would be for its compatriot Nissan.
It has had a Mexican plant for 50 years and ships 400,000 cars into the US, half the production from Mexico, but it also has production plants stateside.