Toyota is re-taking the top seller spot
Toyota has started to reclaim the title of world’s largest automotive manufacturer by edging past its major competitors, General Motors and Volkswagen in 2012’s third quarter.
The Japanese carmaker has managed to sell 2.43 million vehicles across the globe between July 1st and September 30th – this also includes its subsidiaries Hino and Daihatsu – this represented an increase of 18 percent compared to the same period of 2011.
This strong quarter takes Toyota’s 2012 sales up to 7.4 million units, which puts it about 450,000 vehicles past GM.
However the Detroit-based car manufacturer showed some good numbers as well, with 2.28 million vehicles sold around the world in this year’s third quarter, however this put it slightly behind Germany’s Volkswagen AG, which sold 2.3 million units.
Volkswagen – also including Porsche – has sold 6.9 million units worldwide during the first nine months of the year, thus getting to about 50,000 units behind GM.
The Japanese carmaker is still on track to break its 2007 record of 9.37 million units, with their end-of-year target being 9.76 million vehicle sales.
But there could be a slight hitch in that plan because of the tough Chinese market, where Toyota’s sales have declined twenty-three percent this last quarter – quite possibly due to the international problems caused by a bunch of islands, which have given rise to some anti-Japanese feelings in China.
But in other areas of the globe, their sales have increased by thirty-eight percent in the US and by thirteen percent in Europe.
They show growth in Australia as well, a 21.1 percent increase in sales, compared to 2011.
