General Motors is on course to reclaim its title as the world's largest auto seller as robust sales in the US and China are regaining ground on Volkswagen e Toyota.
GM, which lost the top spot in 2008 to Toyota, won't reveal official figures before the end of the month, but according to rumors, it should have finished 2011 with the sale of 9 million cars and trucks, at least 800 units in more than its Japanese and German rivals. Volkswagen just announced that it sold 8,156 million vehicles last year, realizing a 14% increase over 2010. Toyota, whose production suffered from the tsunami and the Fukushima emergency, achieved sales of 7,9 million units in 2011. Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of market forecasting for LMC Automotive, explains this success with the fact that General Motors now sells more attractive models than ever before. Schuster expects tough competition in 2012, with Toyota catching up and Nissan-Renault that will challenge the market leaders.
