Toyota's global sales for the first nine months of the year reached 7.41 million vehicles, little changed from the previous year but outpacing General Motors to keep its lead as the world's top-selling automaker.

Detroit-based GM said earlier this month that its global sales for January through September totalled 7.25 million vehicles, up 4.6 per cent from a year earlier.

Toyota's vehicle sales for the first three quarters inched up 0.1 per cent.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it sold about 2.5 million cars, trucks and buses in the July-September quarter, led by overseas growth.

Germany's Volkswagen AG sold just over 7 million vehicles worldwide during the first nine months, making it a close third.

Volkswagen's global sales increased almost 5 per cent during that period from last year.