Luxury cars like the new 2014 Cadillac CTS make up an increasingly important part of GM's global growth story. Photo credit: General Motors

German automaker Volkswagen (VWAGY 0.67%) is in the midst of an all-out push to become the world's largest-selling automaker by 2018. VW's global growth has been impressive -- but to the surprise of some, so has that of General Motors (GM 4.37%). General Motors lost a lot of ground during its spiral into bankruptcy, but the Detroit giant has been writing a new growth story of its own, with much-improved products.

Volkswagen may pass GM in total sales eventually. Current GM CEO Dan Akerson is focused on profit growth over sales growth. But as Fool contributor John Rosevear explains in this video, GM's global sales growth is keeping it ahead of its German rival for now -- even as the General pushes hard to boost its bottom line.