Toyota has regained its global sales lead over the VW group, as its German competitor struggles with the fallout of the emissions rigging scandal across multiple jurisdictions. The company sold more than 7.49 million vehicles through the month of September, beating VW's 7.43 million vehicles, according to Bloomberg News. The results include less than two weeks of sales reporting by Volkswagen after its admission to fixing diesel engines with software that deceived regulators about pollution levels and reported cleaner emissions. VW led Toyota in global sales through the first six months, but the company is now readying repairs to 11 million vehicles worldwide and has stopped sales of diesel models in several markets as it brings engines into compliance. VW is also facing a slowdown in demand in China, its largest market, with its namesake brand declining 7.4% in the first nine months. The German group will likely have a large deficit in the coming months due to the cost of having to repair millions of extra cars and also the lag in sales due to the scandal.
