The Japanese automaker Toyota has benefited the third quarter to increase its lead over General Motors in sales, now that its plants have recovered damages caused by the earthquake last year.
Toyota had passed 7.4 million vehicles around the world at the end of September, up 28 percent. This is 450,000 more vehicles than GM, who said he found a buyer for 6.95 million cars and trucks. GM's global sales are up 2.5 percent for the first nine months of the year.
The GM spokesman Jim Cain said the company will continue to focus on profitable growth.
This decision led to violent protests in China and a boycott of Japanese products.
Toyota sales in China plummeted to 44,100 vehicles in September, half of the 86,000 vehicles sold a year earlier. In August, Chinese sales of Toyota were down 15 percent.
General Motors won the prize for best global sales last year while Toyota slipped to third behind Volkswagen, when the German automaker's sales jumped 12 percent.