Volkswagen is looking to overtake Toyota as the largest auto maker in the world, moving up from third place. But perhaps it should learn from Toyota's problems with gas pedals, which some argue is the result of the Japanese auto maker's relentless pursuit of sales and global market share.
Meanwhile, smaller car companies like BMW and Honda have remained healthy and profitable amid the global economic crisis that has tanked auto sales in almost every market. Ford and GM have mostly dismantled their brand empires built in the '80s and '90s as they sought to become giant companies.
Bigger hasn't proven to be better and in fact, may actually be the wrong road to take for car makers in almost every case. There appears to be a certain size that a car maker needs to be to gain economies of scale, but as they seek global sales domination the efficiencies reached through size crumble.
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