Toyota crowned world's biggest automaker

Toyota Motor firm. warded off Volkswagen ag to stay the world's top-selling car maker for a 3rd consecutive year, driven by record U.S. deliveries of its SUVs, per the 2014 tally announced by the corporate Wednesday.
Worldwide sales for Toyota, as well as its Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co. units, climbed 3 % to 10.23 million vehicles last year, per a corporation statement. Volkswagen last week reported a 4.2 % gain to 10.14 million vehicles, as well as its 2 heavy-truck units. General Motors Co. followed with 9.92 million sales, up 2.1 percent.

Surging demand for sport-utility vehicles as well as the compact RAV4 and mid-size Highlander paced Toyota's U.S. market share gain last year, encouragement plans to boost local production and exports from Japan in 2015. As Volkswagen and g add factories to bolster their already-dominant position in China, President Akio Toyoda's strategy to forgo building new automobile plants till a minimum of next year might lead to the primary shake-up in auto-sales leadership since 2011.
"Their focus isn't No. 1," said Peggy Furusaka, a Tokyo-based auto-credit analyst at Moody's Investors Service. "Toyota is more involved regarding keeping profitability than chasing numbers. thus for coming back years, i would not be shocked to check Toyota selling fewer cars than VW."
Toyota forecasts a one % decline in annual sales to ten.15 million vehicles in 2015, the Toyota town, Aichi Prefecture-based manufacturing business said in a statement Wednesday. Volkswagen and g haven't announced projections for this year. READ MORE