Toyota has widened its global sales lead over General Motors after bouncing back from a series of natural disasters. The company said Friday it sold 7.4 million vehicles globally in the first nine months of this year - 450,000 more than GM. While Toyota's sales rose 28 per cent in that period, GM's rose 2.5 per cent, to 6.95 million cars and light-duty trucks. Toyota's factories were hobbled by an earthquake and tsunami in early 2011, leaving it short of cars in the U.S. and other regions. But now the company has recovered, and is building and selling more vehicles globally. Volkswagen is also seeing strong global sales.
