Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday that its group sold nearly 5.1 million vehicles worldwide in the first six months of 2014 amid a global economic recovery.
The Toyota group, including Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, sold 3.8 per cent more vehicles from a year earlier to a hit a record 5,097,000 units in the January-to-June period, the company said.
The world’s largest carmaker sold about 1.27 million vehicles in North America, its largest market, up 5 per cent from the same period last year, Toyota spokesman Naoki Sumino said.
Sales in China jumped 11.8 per cent to 473,000 units and those in Europe grew 8 per cent to 430,000, Sumino said.
Domestic sales rose 6.5 per cent to 1.25 million vehicles thanks to front-loaded increase in demand prior to the sales-tax hike in April, he added.
Toyota is scheduled to release earnings results for the April-to-June quarter on Tuesday.