TOKYO: After topping DaimlerChrysler AGs American unit in sales for the first time last month, Toyota Motor Corp may well dethrone Ford Motor Co as the worlds second biggest automaker within two years.
Toyota is gaining as it adds plants in Texas and Mexico, while Ford plans capacity cuts. In the first half this year Toyota trailed Ford in global sales by just 100,000 units, down from 250,000 in the same period 2002. The gap shrank as Toyotas US sales surged 4.8% this year and its European sales rose 3%.