Toyota keeps the world leader in sales

Japanese automaker Toyota has maintained its status as the world in terms of sales in the first quarter, ahead of General Motors and Volkswagen in spite of a decline in sales in Japan and China.

Toyota revealed Wednesday that elapsed 2.43 million vehicles during the period from January to March, slightly more than the 2.36 million vehicles sold by GM and the 2.27 million vehicles for which Volkswagen has found a buyer.

Toyota sales are nevertheless decline of 2.2 percent in the first quarter, while those of GM were up 3.6 per cent and Volkswagen 5.1 percent.

Quarterly Toyota sales plummeted 13 percent in China and 15 percent in Japan, but they advance 7 percent in North America. The Japanese giant has also done well in several Asian countries.

GM and Volkswagen continue as to them gaining ground in China, the largest automobile market in the world.