GM surpasses Toyota to become the world's largest automaker

August 4, 2011 According to Bloomberg News, in the first half of this year, General Motors' global sales exceeded Toyota as the world's largest automaker.

GM said in a statement that, as of June 30, GM’s sales in the first half of this year increased by 8.9% to 4.536 million vehicles. Followed by the German Volkswagen company to 4.13 million sales in second place, Toyota's sales in the first half of the 3.71 million, ranked third.

As a result of the major earthquake and the impact of the tsunami in March, Toyota's production once came to a standstill. Its output in the first half fell by 23% to 3.37 million units. "Even if Toyota resumes production, it will take a few months for its sales to actually recover," said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at Carnorama Consulting in Tokyo. "Toyota's full-year sales may still lag behind the public."

According to industry research firm Autodata Corp. As a result of the analysis, GM’s sales in the United States rose to 669,065 units in the second quarter. Among them, the Chevrolet Cruze was the best-selling car in the US market in June, with the Chevrolet Silverado large pickup selling at second place, and Ford Motor Company’s F-series third.