Toyota narrows VW lead in auto employment

Toyota Motor Corp, which surpassed General Motors Corp as the No 1 automaker by vehicles sold in the first half of this year, has narrowed Volkswagen AG's lead as the industry's largest employer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Toyota had 316,121 staff at the end of its fiscal year on March 31, a 5.6 percent increase from a year earlier, the data show. VW had 332,063 workers on the same date, a 2.4 percent increase, according to its first-quarter quarterly financial state-ment. Excluding apprentices and people "in the passive phase of their early retirement", Volkswagen had 314,888 "active" employees, the report said.

Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen became the largest employer in 2007, the Bloomberg data shows, after Daimler sold its Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management LP.