Toyota sold 2.34 million vehicles in the July-September quarter, less than General Motors as the US firm regained the lead in the race to be the world's top automaker.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s worldwide vehicle sales for the first nine months of this year — at 7.05 million vehicles — also fell short of Detroit-based General Motors Corp.'s sales of 7.06 million vehicles for the same period.
Close call
But the numbers Toyota released Monday show the Japanese automaker running neck-and-neck against General Motors, which sold 2.38 million vehicles in the third quarter.
Toyota beat GM in global vehicle sales in the first half of the year, riding on its reputation for high quality, low-mileage small cars such as the Camry, Corolla and gas-electric hybrid Prius.
"With oil prices rising, Toyota has the advantage in the long run," said Yoshihiro Okumura, auto analyst at Chibagin Asset Management Co. "Toyota is making a dash to the top."
High prices
Soaring gas prices have helped to lift Toyota's sales, but it saw its U.S. sales dip slightly last month, partly because of a record set in the same month a year earlier.
Toyota is lowering its sales target in Japan for this year because of a stagnant market, but it has said that better-than-expected demand in other overseas markets will offset the domestic decline.
October 22, 2007
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