Toyota overtakes scandal-hit Volkswagen in global auto sales

Volkswagen lost the lead in global auto sales to Toyota after claiming the top spot three months ago, as the German carmaker braces for consumer blowback from a widening emissions-cheating scandal.

Toyota said Monday it sold 7.49 million vehicles this year through September, topping the 7.43m that Volkswagen reported earlier this month. Deliveries declined 1.5 per cent for both Toyota and Volkswagen.

The results include less than two weeks of sales reporting by Volkswagen after its admission to rigging diesel engines with software that deceived regulators about pollution levels. 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. The company is also facing a slowdown in demand in China, its largest market, with its namesake brand declining 7.4 per cent in the first nine months.

“Toyota will be the No 1 for this year,” Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan, said by phone. “VW may be facing sales difficulties due to the scandal toward next year in Europe and the US, and I do not see the Chinese market coming back anytime soon.”

Volkswagen’s emissions scandal led to the resignation of chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who had pushed the company to surpass Toyota and General Motors and become the world leader by global sales. GM’s deliveries dropped 1.9 per cent to 7.2m vehicles during the first nine months of the year.

As Volkswagen stumbles, Toyota is now preparing to begin deliveries of its updated Prius hatchback. After almost seven years without a redesign, the company is promising a sportier ride for its top-selling hybrid, an improvement in fuel economy of about 10 per cent and an even bigger boost for an Eco version of the model. Sales begin in Japan before the end of the year.

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