Toyota dethrones Volkswagen in January-September global sales

Tokyo: Japan's Toyota Motor overtook scandal-hit Volkswagen to become the world's largest carmaker by sales in the nine months to September, according to data Monday.

The Japanese automaker had been dethroned by its German rival in the first half of 2015, for the first time in four years.

From January to September, however, Toyota sold more than 7.49 million vehicles including those from subsidiaries Daihatsu and truckmaker Hino, the company said.

Volkswagen announced earlier this month that its global sales stood at 7.43 million for the same period.

Volkswagen has been under fire since the revelation that it had evaded US emissions limits for nitrogen oxide and other dangerous pollutants.

But the nine-months period was barely affected by the scandal, which came to light around mid-September.

Toyota said its consolidated sales -- including subsidiaries -- outside Japan stood at a record 5.85 million units for the nine months, thanks to a brisk performance in North America and China.

Toyota alone boosted sales to 804,000 units, up 11.6 percent, in China, and to 2.02 million or four percent higher in North America in the nine months to September, a spokeswoman said.