Toyota Likely to Top Rivals in Global Auto Sales

Toyota Motor Corp., which ceded the title of the world's top-selling carmaker to General Motors Co. last year amid Asian natural disasters, is poised to reclaim the crown, Bloomberg News reports.

The contest between GM and Volkswagen AG for second place is too close to call, analysts tell the news service. Toyota sold 7.40 million vehicles in the January-September period compared with 6.95 at GM and 6.9 million at Volkswagen AG.

Global auto sales are expected to surpass 80 million vehicles for the first time this year, according to Bloomberg.

Analysts expect VW to become an even tougher competitor in coming years as it boosts its capacity to match its goal of becoming the largest automaker worldwide by 2018.