NEW YORK - U.S. auto giant General Motors (IW 1000/19) announced Wednesday it sold 9.92 million cars worldwide in 2014, setting a new record despite its recall of some 30 million vehicles over faulty ignitions blamed for at least 42 deaths.
GM's 2014 sales, which bested last year's record by two percent, still lag those of German giant Volkswagen AG (IW 1000/6), which logged 10.14 million cars last year.
And a press report in Japan said Toyota (IW 1000/8) surpassed both companies in 2014 with sales of 10.22 million. The Japanese automaker has yet to release full-year sales figures.
Volkswagen is expected to pass Toyota in 2015. A Toyota executive at the Detroit auto show told AFP the Japanese maker is emphasizing quality of sales rather than volume.
The lofty GM sales are good news for a company badly bruised by the ignition-switch recall scandal. The automaker paid out nearly $2 billion for the recalls and victims compensation last year, it said earlier Wednesday.
GM said its U.S. market share of large pickups rose one percent to 38.9 percent, while its share of large sport utility vehicles jumped 7.8 percent to 74.7 percent.
Other highlights included a 3.4 rise in European sales from its Opel/Vauxhall division and a 12 percent jump in deliveries in the booming Chinese market.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015
