Toyota Motor Corp. group climbed to second place in the 2019 global auto sales rankings on its robust North America demand, overtaking the Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. alliance, data showed Thursday.

Toyota sold a record 10.74 million units globally in 2019, up 1.4 percent from a year earlier, to finish behind only Volkswagen AG of Germany. Robust sales of Lexus-brand cars and the company’s RAV4 sport-utility vehicle were behind the result.

Daihatsu Motor Co. minivehicles and trucks sold by Hino Motors Ltd. are included in Toyota’s figure.

Volkswagen took the top spot for the fourth consecutive year with a record-high 10.97 million units sold, up 1.3 percent from the previous year, while the French-Japanese alliance posted sales of 10.16 million units, down 5.6 percent.

The alliance has suffered sluggish sales in the U.S. market since November 2018, around the time of the arrest of the group’s former boss Carlos Ghosn.

KEYWORDS Toyota, Nissan, carmakers, Renault, Volkswagen, cars