--Toyota outsold General Motors in 2012 for the first time since
2010
--Toyota saw global sales rise 23% to record 9.75 million
vehicles
--Nissan, Honda also post record sales in 2012
TOKYO--Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) on Monday retook the title
of world's largest auto maker, posting a 23% gain in global sales
to a record 9.75 million vehicles in 2012.
The strong showing allowed the Japanese auto maker to reclaim
the top spot from General Motor Co. (GM), which sold 9.29 million
vehicles in 2012, and to fend off Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE), which
sold 9.07 million.
Toyota, whose sales numbers include minicar maker Daihastsu
Motor Co. (7262.TO) and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. (7205.TO),
first became No. 1 in 2008, but fell behind GM three years later
due to supply-chain disruptions from an earthquake in Japan and
flooding in Thailand.
Last year, Japan's largest auto maker bounced back from such
production woes and sold more vehicles than ever before on demand
for its Prius family of hybrid cars, sedans like the Camry and SUVs
such as the Lexus RX 350.
Separately, Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) and Honda Motor Co.
(7267.TO), Japan's No. 2 and No. 3 auto makers by volume, also
posted record sales in 2012. Nissan said it sold an all-time high
of 4.94 million vehicles, up 5.8% on year. Honda's sales rose 19%
to 3.82 million.
The big sales gains, coupled with a sharp weakening of the yen
against the dollar late in the year, bode well for the profit
picture at Japan's auto makers. A weaker yen increases the value of
dollar-denominated sales overseas and makes Japanese exports more
competitive abroad.
Honda will kick off the earnings season Thursday when it
announces its latest quarterly results, followed by Toyota and
Nissan next week.
This year, Toyota has forecast sales of 9.91 million vehicles on
expectations for more modest growth now that it has caught up on a
backlog of orders from 2011. It also reflects continued
difficulties for it and Japan's other auto makers in China, the
world's largest auto market.
Sales of Japanese brands plummeted from mid-September last year
amid mounting political tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. While
Japan's auto makers say demand has begun to recover, the spat has
been a major setback in efforts to match American and European
rivals with greater market share in China.
Toyota didn't provide a break-down by country Monday, but it
previously said it wouldn't likely meet an initial 2012 goal of
selling 1 million cars in China.
That would be 10% of the company's mid-term goal of selling 10
million vehicles annually worldwide.
Earlier this month, Toyota said it sold 2.1 million vehicles in
the U.S. last year, a 27% increase over 2011.
Write to Chester Dawson at chester.dawson@wsj.com
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