Toyota tops Sales Chart for 4th year in a Row

The Japanese company has aimed to sell 10,114,000 units worldwide, according to the report.

Toyota has been crowned the world’s largest auto company, selling 10.15m vehicles previous year. In the first half of the year, the German giant was in pole position, outpacing Toyota as it rode momentum in emerging economies.

The Japanese carmaker competed with German group Volkswagen AG and American automaker General Motors, which sold 9.93 and 9.8 million vehicles respectively. Toyota managed to hold its top spot mainly due its rival emissions scandal, which affected the demand and drew a halt in sales of diesels in some markets, Volkswagen making efforts to mend its reputation after the September disclosures. The deal would give Toyota full say over a company that competes with Suzuki Motor Corp.in Japan’s minicar segment, which has expanded even as the overall domestic auto market has shrunk. The company was founded in 1937, its headquarters is located in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, and the number of employees exceeds 300 thousand people.

Global sales for Toyota, including Hino and Daihatsu, slipped 0.8 percent to 10.15 million vehicles previous year, the company said Wednesday in a statement.

With an eye to capitalise on the demand for compact cars in India and other emerging markets Toyota and Suzuki are looking to take advantage by using each other’s knowledge, said the Nikkei report.

Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki may demur from a share swap with Toyota; his concerns about independence eventually helped torpedo his alliance with VW and before that, hindered Suzuki’s cooperation with General Motors. GM sold 9.8 million vehicles.

In the current year, worldwide production slid 2 percent to about 10.08 million units. It was able to briefly reclaim the throne in 2011, but only because a tsunami and quake struck the northeastern region of Japan, which disrupted Toyota’s production for that year.

Daihatsu shares, meanwhile, also soared 16 per cent after a disappointing 2015 that saw total global sales slump 13.3 per cent.