Toyota sells over 900,000 vehicles in China in 2013, beats sales target

In a file picture taken on May 11, 2012 workers check paints and bodies of the new model of Toyota Motor's best selling car "Corolla" at a plant of the company's subsidiary Central Motor at Ohira village in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan. Toyota M
In a file picture taken on May 11, 2012 workers check paints and bodies of the new model of Toyota Motor's best selling car "Corolla" at a plant of the company's subsidiary Central Motor at Ohira village in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan. Toyota Motor Corp and its two local joint-venture partners sold more than 900,000 vehicles in China last year, two executives said on Monday. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Toyota Motor Corp and its two local joint-venture partners sold more than 900,000 vehicles in China last year, two executives said on Monday, beating its annual sales target as it recovered from the impact of a territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

One of the executives said Toyota and its Chinese partners sold about 916,400 vehicles in China last year on a preliminary basis, up from about 840,000 vehicles sold in 2012. The other said sales were over 900,000 vehicles. Both declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.

The executives said key new products, including the significantly redesigned RAV4 Toyota-branded compact sport-utility vehicle, helped recover much of the ground the company lost after a dispute over a group of islets in the East China Sea fanned anti-Japan sentiment in China.

Toyota's Beijing-based spokesman Takanori Yokoi said the company plans to release its China sales data later on Monday, and declined further comment.

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