Toyota Q1 sales rise on new markets
Toyota Motor Corp, vying with General Motors Corp to be the world's largest carmaker, increased first-quarter sales 2.7 percent after demand grew in China and other emerging markets.
The company sold 2.41 million vehicles in the three months ended March 31, compared with 2.35 million a year earlier, Shiori Hashimoto, a Toyota spokeswoman based in Tokyo, said yesterday. Sales of Toyota and Lexus vehicles surged 49 percent in China and 34 percent in the Middle East.
Toyota's gain was the smallest in at least five quarters as declining demand in the United States, its largest market, hurt both the Japanese carmaker and Detroit-based GM. GM sold at least 2.15 million vehicles in the quarter, based on preliminary figures, threatening its 77-year-old title as the world's largest automaker.
"Expansion into new markets will allow Toyota to widen its lead over rivals in the long term," said Ichiro Takamatsu, chief investment officer at Alphex Investments Co in Tokyo, which manages $60 million in assets. "Toyota has the right strategy."
GM's 11 percent decline in the US in the first three months of the year surpassed the 5.6 percent drop in sales for Toyota.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/24/2008 page16)
