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Toyota beats Volkswagen and GM in global vehicle sales after first 9 months of this year

Associated Press
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FILE - In this July 2, 2015, file photo, a customer checks the interior of a vehicle for sale at the New Century Volkswagen dealership in Glendale, Calif. Toyota remained the top automaker in global vehicle sales after the first nine months of this year, selling nearly 7.5 million vehicles, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen. Toyota Motor Corp.'s global sales for the first three quarters totaled 7.498 million vehicles, down 1.5 percent from the same period the previous year, according to numbers released Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2015 file photo, Toyota unveils the latest version of the Prius at an event in Las Vegas. Toyota remained the top automaker in global vehicle sales after the first nine months of this year, selling nearly 7.5 million vehicles, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen. Toyota Motor Corp.'s global sales for the first three quarters totaled 7.498 million vehicles, down 1.5 percent from the same period the previous year, according to numbers released Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This March 30, 2011 file photo shows the Toyota logo is shown on a Prius in Wilsonville, Ore. Toyota remained the top automaker in global vehicle sales after the first nine months of this year, selling nearly 7.5 million vehicles, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen. Toyota Motor Corp.'s global sales for the first three quarters totaled 7.498 million vehicles, down 1.5 percent from the same period the previous year, according to numbers released Monday, Oct. 26, 2015.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) (The Associated Press)

Toyota remained the top automaker in global vehicle sales after the first nine months of this year, selling nearly 7.5 million vehicles, outpacing rivals General Motors and Volkswagen.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that global sales for the first three quarters totaled 7.498 million vehicles. Volkswagen AG of Germany sold 7.43 million vehicles, while GM sold 7.2 million vehicles, according to their figures released earlier this month.

Volkswagen overtook Toyota for January-June, the first time it had come out on top in such tallies. Its sales may suffer because of an emissions scandal, which hit last month.

Detroit-based GM was the top-selling automaker for more than seven decades until being surpassed by Toyota in 2008. GM retook the sales crown for one year in 2011, when a disaster struck Japan.