Toyota shrugged off China sales woes to stay the world's top selling automaker for the first half of this year, outpacing United States rival General Motors Company, which boasted such bragging rights for seven decades until 2008, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
Toyota Motor Corporation sold 4.91 million cars and trucks around the world for the January-June period, down 1.2 per cent from the previous year, according to numbers it released Friday.
GM said earlier this month it sold 4.85 million vehicles worldwide in the six months, growing almost four per cent as it gained U.S. sales faster than Toyota. For the second quarter alone, GM had a slight edge, outselling Toyota by about 10,000 vehicles.
GM was the top-selling automaker for seven decades before losing that title to the Japanese automaker in 2008. GM retook the spot in 2011, when Toyota's plants were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan that wiped out parts suppliers.
