By Yuri Kageyama – Associated Press
Tokyo— Toyota remained the top-selling automaker for a second year in a row, beating U.S. rival General Motors by some 270,000 vehicles in 2013, and set an ambitious target to sell more than 10 million vehicles this year.
That would mark a milestone as no automaker has ever topped annual worldwide sales of 10 million.
Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it sold a record 9.98 million vehicles worldwide last year, up 2 percent from the previous year.
The Japanese automaker has made an impressive comeback from an earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan in 2011, damaging auto suppliers and hobbling production.
Toyota also outlined plans to sell 10.32 million vehicles and produce 10.43 million vehicles in 2014.
General Motors Co. sold 9.71 million cars and trucks worldwide last year, outselling Volkswagen AG of Germany at 9.5 million.
Toyota recaptured the global sales crown in 2012 from GM, which had been the top-selling carmaker for more than seven decades until being surpassed by Toyota in 2008.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140123/AUTO0104/301230054#ixzz2uFRwLxY1
