Toyota Motor regained the top spot in global car sales rankings in the first half of 2012, having last year lost the crown to General Motors and Volkswagen, industry sources said.
Toyota’s worldwide sales surged 33.7% from a year earlier to 4.97m vehicles, a record high for a first half, outpacing the previous record of 4.81m in 2008, as the company recovered from the damaging effects of last year’s Japanese earthquake and the widespread flooding in Thailand that disrupted its manufacturing operations, the sources told Kyodo News.
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Toyota also benefited from a government subsidy for the sales of eco-friendly cars in Japan and brisk overseas sales particularly in North America and Asia, the sources added.
GM sold 4.67m units in the first half, up only 3%, and Volkswagen 4.45m, up about 9%, amid economic doldrums in Europe due to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
