Financial Times FT.com

Hedge scramble drives VW to top spot

By Richard Milne and Daniel Schäfer in London

Published: October 8 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 8 2008 03:00

Volkswagen has overtaken Toyota as the world's largest carmaker by market capitalisation after an extraordinary scramble by hedge funds to cover positions betting on a share price fall in the German company.

Volkswagen's shares surged as much as 55 per cent yesterday, extending recent strong gains. But the shares fell in late trading to close 2 per cent down.

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