Toyota has managed to hold on to its title as the world’s top automaker, but not by much of a margin. It barely edged out both GM and Volkswagen who saw overall sales increases while Toyota saw a decline despite staying on top.
They’ve reported their worldwide sales for the first six months of 2013 at 4.911 million vehicles. That huge number is still a 1.1 percent decline from a year earlier.
The slip downward is due to lower sales in Japan as subsidies for green cars disappear. In the US, the automaker’s largest market, sales were strong which helped keep Toyota from slipping out of first place.
GM is hot on Toyota’s heels with 4.85 million units up 4 percent for the first six months of the year. This translates to 4.85 million more vehicles. Volkswagen was also a close competitor with a 5.5 percent increase that brought its total to 4.70 million units through June 30th.
The Volkswagen numbers might actually be a little better than stated since they don’t include their Scania and MAN Brands. Scania has sold 37,980 units while MAN came in with roughly 60,000 to add to the total.
Although Toyota managed to hold on to its lead for year-to-date numbers, it came in second place to GM for the second quarter. It’s the first time this has happened in the last six quarters and is indicative of the recovery US automakers are experiencing as they introduce new and improved models.
GM came in first for the second quarter with 2.49 million while Toyota fell short with 2.48 million. They did manage to stay ahead of Volkswagen’s 2.39 million units.
Toyota slipped behind both GM and Volkswagen back in 2011 due to supply chain issues after Japan was hit with natural disasters and numerous recalls that stained its reputation for quality. They made a comeback in 2012 but at mid-year it looks like they stand a chance of losing the title once again.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
