Toyota tops global vehicle sales

TOKYO - Toyota kept its lead over rivals against rivals Volkswagen and General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker in the first three quarters of the year.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it had sold 7.615 million vehicles around the world, up nearly 3 percent from the previous year.

Volkswagen said earlier this month it sold 7.40 million vehicles for January-September, barely edging out General Motors Co. in the closely watched auto sales race, at 7.372 million cars and trucks worldwide. Detroit-based GM also reported its figure earlier this month.

Japanese automaker Toyota was in first place in the first half with sales of almost 5.1 million. It finished first last year with a record 9.98 million sales. GM had finished second and Volkswagen AG third.