1 automaker globally and on Monday reported selling 7.615 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, a nearly 3% increase over the prior nine-month period. The Japanese automaker held onto the top spot despite facing slower sales in its home market after a rise in sales tax went into effect, and in China where cultural differences and a political dispute over the disputed islets, which boiled over in 2012 and led to a boycott of Toyota and other Japanese makers, have dampened sales.