On the back of strong demand in Japan and China, Toyota posted a 5 percent global sales increase for the month of October, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday. Despite recent competition from Volkswagen , Toyota remains the world’s largest automaker.
Toyota’s global sales rose to about 640,000 units in October, marking a 5 percent sales increase. The increase also represents Toyota’s first year-on-year sales increase in 15 months.
Toyota ’s sales rallied 15 percent in its home market in Japan, spurred by government incentives promoting fuel-efficient vehicles. Toyota also saw strong growth in China during the month of October, with sales up a healthy 45 percent.
However, Toyota is still struggling in the United States – the automaker’s largest market – with October sales down 3.5 percent. Although not the biggest drop-off we’ve seen in recent months, it’s important to note Toyota’s October 2008 sales were down about 30 percent. Because of the poor sales tallied in late 2008 and early 2009, Toyota expects to post sales increases for the foreseeable future.
