Only three years after accepting a major government bailout, General Motors Co. has replaced Toyota as the world’s top-selling automotive company. GM recently revealed it had sold just over nine million cars and trucks last year, an increase of 7.6-percent over 2010. Toyota confirmed Wednesday that its world group sales fell below the eight million mark. Toyota’s 6-percent loss in world auto sales in 2011 was General Motors gain. If you’re keeping count, that nine million sales total is over a million units higher than Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp., which had held the title of top-selling automaker since 2008. Until that time, GM had been the world’s leader in auto sales for more than seventy years.
GM’s return to form represents a stunning turnaround for a company that only a few years ago appeared on the verge of financial ruin. It would seem the company’s decision to cut the fat — shedding less popular brands Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, and SAAB — has worked out. General Motors says it generated a net income of over $7 billion for just the first three quarters of 2011, with fourth quarter totals to be revealed next month.
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GM says its cars sold well in all four global regions, including North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Of its current brands, Chevrolet was the front runner, setting a sales record with 4.76 million vehicles sold around the world.
Overall, GM sales were up 640,000 units over 2010, when the company sold roughly 8.4 million automobiles.
Germany’s Volkswagen AG (8.16 million cars sold, an increase of 14 per cent) and the Franco-Japanese team of Renault and Nissan (8.03 million sold) rounded out the top three automakers for last year.
Toyota fell to fourth in the list, having sold 7.9 million vehicles in 2011. The Japanese automaker is confident in can rebound, however, predicting sales of near 8.5 million for this year.
Factoring into Toyota’s 2011 woes included the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami, flooding in Thailand and a record-high yen.
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