(TM – Get Report) is the world’s largest automaker for the 2015 third quarter, reclaiming the title from rival Volkswagen (VLKAY), with nearly 7.5 million vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2015, USA Today reports. Its sales may suffer because of a scandal, which hit last month, in which its cars were found equipped with software that allowed them to cheat US emissions tests.
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However, Volkswagen’s emissions scandal struck at the end of September, so is unlikely to have had much of an impact. While the German automaker led Toyota in global sales through the first six months, it is now readying repairs to 11m vehicles worldwide and has stopped sales of diesel models in several markets as it brings engines into compliance.
Total sales at Toyota and its subsidiaries Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor Co rose 13.6 per cent from the first eight months of the year, although sales were 1.5 per cent lower from the same period last year.
From January to September, however, Toyota sold more than 7.49 million vehicles including those from subsidiaries Daihatsu and truckmaker Hino, the company said. Sedran, who will start November. 1, previously served as interim CEO at German automaker Opel in 2012-2013 and was head of General Motors’ Chevrolet and Cadillac brands in Europe earlier this year. The company sold 10.23 million vehicles in 2014. Unfortunately for Volkswagen, a scandal of epic proportions involving its not-so-clean diesel vehicles soured consumers’ opinions, and now Toyota is back to claim its rightful crown.
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“Toyota will be the No 1 for this year”, Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan, said by phone.
