World 2012: Global sales at a record 80 million new vehicles

Bangkok, Thailand. Picture by songglod. Never before had that many new vehicles been sold in Thailand: 1.4 million predicted for 2012.

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LMC Automotive predicts that worldwide 2012 sales of cars and trucks will top 80 million units for the first time, as robust US, Chinese and Japanese markets offset a European downturn. This means the worldwide new vehicle market has grown by a very dynamic 7% on 2011 when 75 million units were sold, which was a record at the time. In fact, 2012 marks the third consecutive record year for worldwide vehicle sales.

Toyota Avanza in Ubud, Bali Indonesia. Toyota should reclaim the title of #1 carmaker in the world in 2012, helped by very strong sales of its hybrid range in Japan and a record performance in Indonesia.

For its part, Canadian Bank Scotia has advanced a forecast of 64 million new car sales in 2013, up 4% to deliver a 4th consecutive record year. Note this figure does not include trucks and commercial vehicles outside of the US and actually constitutes a rather odd prediction. Scotia believes the Chinese market will grow by 10%, the US by 4% and Europe will stagnate.

Back to 2012 and the race to the title of most popular car manufacturer in the world, which Toyota should reclaim in 2012…

Previous year: World 2011: Global sales to hit 75 million new vehicles

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