- It should be borne in mind that since the launch of the first generation in 1974, the Volkswagen Golf has been one of the highest-selling vehicles in Europe, as well as being one of the ones manufactured in the greatest numbers. 6.8 million of the first generation were manufactured (1974-1983), 6.3 million of the second generation (1983-1991), 4.8 million of the third generation (1991-1997), 4.3 million of the fourth generation (1997-2003), 3.8 million of the fifth generation (2003-2008), and 2.6 million of the sixth generation (2008-2012) were made. The erosion of the Golf's sales from one generation to the next is therefore apparent, but the life cycle of these generations, which gradually became shorter, has to be factored in, as well as the advent of competing models within the Volkswagen range, like the Golf Plus, the Touran and the Tiguan. In spite of that, the Golf has held up better than its competitors from other brands like the Opel Astra, the Ford Focus, the Renault Mégane or the Peugeot 308.

- Partially offsetting a European market having declined by 8% to 11.75 million cars in 2012 (in comparison with 2011), the level of exports from Europe to outside Europe continued to increase over the same period (+4%) to 2.7 million cars (against 2.6 million in 2011). Since 2010, EU exports have increased continuously
The main recipients of EU exports are the United States (865,000 units), Russia (565,000) and China (530,000).

- Imports from outside Europe to Europe on their side fell 10% in 2012, 3.3 million cars in 2012 (against 3.65 million in 2011). Regarding imports into Europe, we can observe a predominance of Asian countries: Korea (300,000), Japan (180,000) and India (160,000). China mainly exports to Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

- Sales of light vehicles (private cars & light utility vehicles) in the United States increased by 3.8% in February 2013 (compared to February 2012) to 1.19 million units and by 8.4% in total over the first 2 months of 2013 (compared for the total for the first 2 months of 2012) to 2.24 million units. Manufacturers are now counting on a market comprising 15.8 million vehicles in 2013 as opposed to the 15.5 million fore seen a few months ago. In 2012, the market achieved 14.5 million units (as opposed 12.8 million in 2011, 11.6 million in 2010, and 10.4 million in 2009).

- Concerning the private vehicles market, the Toyota Group remained the leader in January-February 2013 with a market share of 16.5%, ahead of the GM Group (14.6%), the Hyundai-Kia Group (11.6%), the Ford Group (11.0%), the Renault-Nissan Group (10.1%) and the Honda Group (10.0%).

- Concerning the light utility vehicles market (SUVs, MPVs, pick-ups), the GM Group was the leader in January-February 2013 with a market share of 23.2% ahead of the Ford Group (21.6%) and the Fiat-Chrysler Group (14.8%). On this market, the Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler) still retain a predominant influence.