Analysts expect Toyota will overtake General Motors this month to become the ‘world’s number one auto maker’.
In 2011, Toyota lost its crown as the world’s top auto company, after the company’s auto sales plummeted following questions about safety at Toyota and the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
But Toyota sales are up this year. The company expects to sell 9.7 million vehicles. That’s more than analysts expect GM will in 2012.
Mike Wall is an auto industry analyst with IHS Global Insight. He says GM shouldn’t worry about falling to number two.
“I don’t think this is a knock on them,” says Wall, “Let’s face it, Volkswagen is breathing down everybody’s neck…as it relates to the number one players. So this could be a short lived event in its own right.”
Wall says December is shaping up to be another good sales month for the automakers.
