General Motors Co. surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen to reclaim the crown of world's largest automaker with global sales of 9.03 million vehicles in 2011.
That was 11 percent higher than Volkswagen, which last week reported 2011 global sales of 8.16 million. Toyota has not yet reported its final 2011 sales, but last month the Japanese automaker estimated it sold 7.9 million vehicles globally last year.
Toyota's sales were constrained by production cuts caused by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan, and later in the year by flooding in Thailand.
GM's 2011 sales rose 7.6 percent from 2011. Sales in the U.S. led the way for Chevrolet with total vehicle sales of 1,775,812, up more than 13 percent. China posted record sales of 595,068, up 9.5 percent from the previous year.
