Toyota regains world’s No 1 position in sales

January 29, 2013: Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is once again the world's top-selling automobile manufacturer, regaining the crown it lost in 2011 to GM. The Japanese automaker was the world’s No 1 in sales for three years -- 2008 to 2010 -- but dropped to third place in 2011, behind GM and Volkswagen. As per a statement released late yesterday, announcing its calendar year 2012 results, TMC has registered record-high global sales of 9.75 million units, up 22.6 percent year-on-year. Overall TMC sales include a record 8.71 million Toyotas, up 22.8 percent YoY, along with sales from Daihatsu and Hino (see table below).

As per a Reuters report, this performance puts the company ahead of GM, which sold 9.28 million vehicles last year, and also Volkswagen, which sold 9.07 million vehicles in 2012. The result was in line with TMC’s December forecast and puts it back in the No. 1 spot, which it lost in 2011 when it was hit by a wave of negative publicity following the recall crisis in the United States, and a disrupted supply chain after the tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand.

TMC aims to sell 9.91 million vehicles globally in 2013, up 1.6 percent from 2012.