VW likely to win global sales crown

Associated Press

TOKYO

Volkswagen can in all likelihood claim the title of world’s biggest automaker for the first time.

Toyota reported Monday that it sold 10.175 million vehicles worldwide in 2016, fewer than Volkswagen’s 10.31 million.

The only contender left is General Motors Co., which is unlikely to come near VW’s number because sales fell last year in the U.S., its second-biggest market. The company will release results next week, but spokesman Jim Cain said he doesn’t think GM will hit 10.3 million.

For VW, it’s a milestone achievement despite the taint to its reputation from a huge scandal over cheating on emissions tests. Booming China sales, where VW sells few diesels, helped offset that damage.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has had the global auto crown for the past four years, although it fell behind GM in 2011, when production was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Detroit-based GM was the top-selling automaker for more than seven decades until Toyota, which makes the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models, surpassed it in 2008.