US based leading car maker General Motors has snatched the top spot in the global auto market from Japanese Toyota Motors, as per a recent report from Detroit News. The report claims that while General Motors sold a total of 4.5 million cars in the first six months of this calendar year, Japanese auto giant Toyota only managed to sell 3.71 million vehicles during this period.
General Motors registered 8.9 percent surge in its year to date sales figures. On the other hand, Toyota Motors registered a sharp decline of 23% in the same period. The sales of Toyota were majorly affected by the massive earth quake and Tsunami in March 2011, disrupting Toyota’s production drastically in its domestic market.
The bad news for the Toyota camp doesn't stop here as the company not only lost its first spot but in fact tumbled to the 3rd spot losing its 2nd spot to largest European car maker Volkswagen. It is to be mentioned here that Volkswagen is aiming to become the largest car maker in the world by year 2018.
Market analysts believe that Toyota may lose even the second largest car maker’s spot to Volkswagen for the full year sales as well, because even if Toyota recovers its production, the company will have to wait for another few months to witness a recovery in sales figures.
However, in India, Toyota looks to grab a significant market share with the help of recently launched mass segment cars like entry level sedan Etios and compact hatchback Etios Liva.
