(August 5, 2011) General Motors has re-assumed its traditional position as the world's largest automaker by outselling Toyota in the first six months of 2011.  And Volkswagen, on track toward its stated goal of reaching number one status, also climbed over Toyota into second place globally.

Toyota, faced with the disruptions created by the massive March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, saw its six-month sales fall 23 percent to 3.37 million units.

GM sales rose 8.9 percent to 4.536 million units in the half-year ended June 30, the automaker reported Thursday.

Volkswagen moved into second place with 4.13 million sales.

The new rankings may be short lived as Toyota expects production to fully recover this fall. But analysts caution that it may take the rest of the year for Toyota to regain the sales volume it had at the beginning of 2011.

Sources: Bloomberg News, The Detroit News