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Toyota is world's top-selling automaker for second year in a row

Toyota is the top-selling automaker in the world. Again. Still. With total reported sales, including those from subsidiaries, of 9.98 million in 2013, Toyota's performance was enough to outpace rival General Motors by around 270,000 vehicles. That's a 2.4-percent gain over 2012, and it makes Toyota the top-seller two years in a row. Still, the gap between the top three is shrinking - Toyota held a 460,000-unit lead in 2012.
GM sold 9.71 million vehicles last year, a four-percent increase, coming in second place ahead of Volkswagen, which sold around 9.5 million. According to Bloomberg, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said his company managed to win the sales race while also remaining more profitable than GM or VW.
It's going to be another interesting year in 2014 as the three behemoth automakers vie for the title of World's Largest. Toyota has predicted that it will increase sales in 2014 to 10.32 million - which would make Toyota the first automaker ever to surpass 10 million global sales - though General Motors and VW are expected to again fight for the lead in the massive Chinese market. Stay tuned.

Autoblog Minute: Toyota factories closed after explosions in China

Fallout from explosions at the port city of Tianjin halt Toyota production in two of its nearby Chinese factories. Autoblog's Adam Morath reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Fallout from explosions at the port of Tianjin halt Toyota production in two of its Northern Chinese plants. I'm Adam Morath and this is your Autoblog Minute. Two of Toyota's plants are closed following the deadly explosions that hit the busy port city of Tianjin, China. The Associated Press reports over 100 people dead, hundreds injured and many still missing. According to the Japanese automaker 50 Toyota employees were injured in last weeks [00:00:30] event and they plan to shut down production in their Chinese plants until Wednesday. Various automakers were also affected, including Renault and Hyundai who claim a significant loss of vehicles. As the Chinese government works to investigate the cause and fallout of this tragedy our thoughts are with the victims and their families. For Autoblog, I'm Adam Morath. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.

Aston CEO claims Cygnet cancelled because Toyota is dropping iQ in 2014

While slow sales and a $50,000 price tag may have been contributing factors to the Aston Martin Cygnet being cancelled last month, Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez is pointing the finger at Toyota for the demise of this luxurious little city car. In a discussion with Autocar, Bez is quoted as saying that the ultimate reason the Cygnet was cut is because Toyota plans on dropping the iQ (on which the Cygnet is based) in 2014 - a claim denied by the Japanese automaker.
Interestingly, the article also cites another publication reporting that a Toyota importer in the Netherlands heard the same news as Bez, and it has already stopped importing the cars. If the European Toyota iQ is cancelled, that would likely spell the end of the slow-selling Scion iQ in the US, which has sold just 3,365 units through September (a drop of 51 percent year over year).
Regardless of why production of the Cygnet ended, Bez also says that a lack of support from Toyota on the project prevented it from being offered in the US or receiving a supercharged engine, which are two factors that likely would have made the car appealing to more buyers.