Toyota Motor Corporation said its global cumulative vehicle output since 1935 when the company was founded has reached 200 million units in June. The Japanese giant said 145.21 million vehicles were made in Japan, while other 55.12 million were produced overseas.
As expected, the mostly produced model is the Corolla sedan with 39.08 million units. Toyota was the world’s largest automaker between 2008 and 2010, but lost its crown to GM after the Japanese earthquake and then flooding in Thailand that seriously disrupted its production.
However, the Japanese automaker is back on top, having sold 2.49-million between January and March, compared to 2.28-million by GM. Volkswagen, the world’s No.3, sold 2.16-million, Bloomberg calculated.
Along with the natural disasters, Toyota has also had to battle a strong Japanese currency. The yen rose by as much as 10percent against the US dollar between April 2011 and February this year, despite efforts by the Japanese central bank to stem its rise.
The company now plans to move some of its production outside Japan. Starting this month, Toyota will build the Yaris compact in France. This will make it the first time that the automobile company will manufacture and export a car from Europe to North America.
