GM tops Toyota as largest automaker

General Motors outsold Toyota Motor globally in the first six months to become the worlds largest automaker after the record March earthquake disrupted production in Japan.

GM sales rose 8.9% to 4.536 million units in the half-year ended June 30,the Detroit-based automaker said in a statement yesterday. That compares with 4.13 million units at second-ranked Volkswagen and 3.71 million units for Toyota,including its luxury Lexus marque and affiliates Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors,according to statements by the companies.

Output at the Toyota City,Japan-based automaker slumped 23% to 3.37 million units in the half-year after the company halted production following the magnitude-9 temblor and tsunami in March. Toyota expects to enter a production recovery phase in September,one month earlier than previously announced,it said August 2.

Even if Toyota recovers production,it will take another few more months for sales to actually recover as it takes time to deliver vehicles to dealers,said Takeshi Miyao,an analyst at consulting company Carnorama in Tokyo. Toyotas sales may trail behind Volkswagen in the full-year as well.

GMs US sales climbed to 669,065 vehicles in the second quarter,according to industry researcher Autodata. The Chevrolet Cruze was the top-selling car in the market in June and the Chevy Silverado full-size pickup remained the second- most popular vehicle,behind only Ford Motors F-Series line. Hyundai Motor,South Koreas largest automaker,had a 11% jump in first-half deliveries of 1.96 million units.