Toyota Motor Corp. is no longer the world's largest car marker by vehicle sales, relinquishing a title held since 2012.
The company said Monday it sold 10.2 million vehicles world-wide in 2016, up 0.2% from the year before. Rival Volkswagen AG sold 10.3 million, riding strong sales in China--its second-largest market after Europe. Toyota is looking jump-start growth this year. In a nod to emissions regulations that favor battery power, it is making a move to build an electric car--belatedly, after years of dismissing battery-powered cars as inferior to gas-electric hybrids and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Toyota is also continuing efforts to draw younger buyers. The Camry was refreshed with more aggressive styling that Chief Executive Akio Toyoda called "sexy" at its unveiling in Detroit earlier this month. Toyota calls its new C-HR crossover a vehicle for people who dislike Toyotas.
Submitted January 30, 2017 at 08:04AM by gambit270 http://ift.tt/2kK3wBB
