THE Renault-Nissan Alliance is now the world’s second biggest car-maker and is scratching at the door of Toyota after overtaking a stumbling Volkswagen.

For the first months of this year, French-based car counter OICA – which translates as the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers – put Toyota at the top with 3.53 million vehicles produced, followed by Renault-Nissan Alliance on 3.47 million, and then VW with 3.4 million.

Toyota’s gain over the same period in 2016 is 7.8 per cent, while Renault-Nissan was almost as busy with a 7.4 per cent growth, while VW fell 0.7 per cent, mainly as the ongoing diesel scandal stopped many diesel-model sales and chewed into customer confidence in the brand.

It’s a major turnaround from last year when VW claimed the top spot, followed by Toyota, though there was some confusion about how the numbers were calculated. Some manufacturers report “deliveries” to dealers, others base it on vehicles actually produced and there are some that count sales to customers. OICA tends to use production figures.

While Toyota is leading the sales race, Renault-Nissan is not far behind with a near-200,000 vehicle difference and could take the top spot this year.

OICA predicts that both companies could finish the production year with about 10.5 million vehicles each.

By Neil Dowling