After the emission scandal that severely damaged the reputation of Volkswagen, the sales report for the first nine months of the year is also not in favour of the German marquee company. The Japanese car manufacturer, Toyota Motor Corporation, has dethroned Volkswagen from the perch of the top-selling car manufacturer with sales of 7.5 million vehicles while the beleaguered Volkswagen sold 7.43 million, reports The Guardian.

The Volkswagen Group consist of some of well known brands such as Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and motorcycles under the Ducati brand, and commercial vehicles under the MAN, Scania, Neoplan and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

However, the emission scandal that came to the fore in September seems to have derailed the sales of the company. Though Toyota overtook VW in total sales, both companies had a 1.5% fall in sales. American manufacturer, General Motors (GM), is in third position with sales of 7.2 million vehicles, which is also less by 1.9% compared to the previous year.

The figures include cars sold after the after Volkswagen landed in trouble when the US Environment Protection Agency said the company intentionally violated the Clean Air Act by using sophisticated software in its diesel-powered cars that detects emission testing.

General Motors was the top-selling carmaker for more than seven decades until being pipped by Toyota in 2008. GM stormed back in 2011. Toyota returned to the top spot in 2012 and has been the top automaker for the past three years. 

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