Toyota Motors is still global No.1 as it beat Volkswagen Group and General Motors to remain the world’s top-selling automaker during the last quarter despite declining deliveries. Toyota’s sales fell 2.5% to 2.52 million vehicles in the January-to-March period, the company made a statement recently. Deliveries rose to 2.49 million for VW Group and 2.42 million for GM, according to earlier statements by the two carmakers.
Only about 90,000 sales separated Toyota and second-placed Volkswagen in 2014 when Toyota stayed No. 1 in annual global sales for the third straight year.
Demand for SUVs including the RAV4 and the new Lexus NX has helped to boost Toyota’s market-share gains in the U.S. during the quarter as Volkswagen continued to struggle in the market.
Toyota’s U.S. sales were up 10% as deliveries of the RAV4, Toyota’s top SUV model, surged 26%. The Lexus NX too is outselling competing models from VW Group’s Audi and Mercedes-Benz’s brands. VW now expects to grow at a slower pace than the rest of the market this year in China as it misses out on a surge in sales of budget SUVs.
