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Booming auto sales in China are credited with pushing Toyota Motor Corp's Asian auto sales higher than those solely in its domestic market for 2009 - a first for the Japanese automaker. Toyota sold 1,354,000 units in Asia during the first 11 months of the year (an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the previous year). In contrast, the automaker sold 1,256,000 vehicles in Japan during the same period. China is credited with 622,000 units sold (a 20.7 percent increase) - that number is expected to pass 700,000 units by the end of the year.

Toyota's North American market is still the sales leader, with 1,770,000 vehicles sold January through November of 2009. However, now that Japan has been bumped aside, the Asian market is expected to solidify its position as the automaker's second-largest market once the numbers are finalized for 2009.

[Source: Japan Today]

bruce van

It would be interesting to see what kind of cars Toyota is selling in China. They may sell more units in China, but what about the price of these cars? I'm thinking the average price of a car sold in China is much less than the price of a car in Japan.

jwong77

This is not really a surprise given that China surpassed the US as the largest car market in the world recently.

IS-SV

A sign of the times, certainly expected. Toyota keeps moving ahead.