Just as if the problems with the production haults at the Japanese plants were not enough, Toyota Motor Corp. notes a global sales decline in the first quarter of this year. Toyota's sales results fell behind Volkswagen AG's, and this disrupted the Japanese automaker's four-year reign atop vehicle industry sales charts.
In the January-to-March period Toyota's worldwide deliveries dropped 2.3% to 2.46 million vehicles. In the same time Volkswagen deliveries rose 0.8% to 2.5 million. In the context of Japan's recent most devastating earthquakes, Toyota anticipates losing output of another 80,000 vehicles. Representatives of the automaker declared that all efforts are being made to grasp the current situation and build the recovery plan. Toyota will strive to keep the status of world's top-selling automaker.
Toyota wasn't alone in posting a sales decline during the quarter. General Motors Co said deliveries dropped 2.5% to 2.36 million. Mitsubishi Motors Corp recognized it manipulated fuel economy testing. Daimler AG investigated the emissions certification process of its cars. Meanwhile Volkswagen boosted deliveries by 6.4% in China and 3.5% in Western Europe during the first three months of the year, pacing its second quarterly win over Toyota in the past year.
