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"  As 2012 comes to a close, the Toyota Motor Corp. is poised to re-claim its status as the world&amp;#039;s largest automaker, while General Motors and Volkswagen are in a tight race for second place. The auto industry is headed for a record sales year, with car and truck sales set to top 80 million vehicles for the first time in history. Toyota, having recovered from epic challenges following 2011&amp;#039;s tsunami in Japan, have pulled past General Motors, whose sales have steadily been recovering following a government bailout in 2009. While it&amp;#039;s too close to call number two, VW already appears ready for a monumental 2013, in which the German manufacturer plans to increase production capacity by 600,000. Of particular note is the burgeoning sales momentum of GM and VW, and the strength of the U.S. market. GM, which lost its 77 year winning streak in 2008 when Toyota took the sales crown as the top selling manufacturer, is set for its 12th straight quarters of profit. Meanwhile, VW&amp;#039;s increased production numbers make the German manufacturer&amp;#039;s claims that they&amp;#039;ll take the top spot by 2018 entirely feasible. As for the importance of the American market, IHS analyst Rebecca Lindland says, &amp;quot;Because the U.S. is so large, when we have a double-digit growth it&amp;#039;s going to propel the rest of the world. The gains can mask a myriad of sins elsewhere, because many of the other economies aren&amp;#039;t exactly setting the world on fire.&amp;quot; Source: Bloomberg "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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