Toyota has once again staked its claim as the largest automaker in the world, selling the most cars and pickup trucks in the first quarter of 2012. Toyota Motor Corp. sold 2.49 million vehicles in the world in Q1 2012 with its Toyota, Lexus, Scion, Hino and Daihatsu brands. General Motors (GM) logged the second largest number of sales at 2.28 million, while Volkswagen AG was third, selling 2.16 million vehicles.

Toyota held the title of the world's largest automaker from 2008 to 2010, but its sales were affected last year due to reduced production as a result of the Japanese earthquake and Thailand floods. During that time, GM took over the top spot, followed by Volkswagen, with Toyota dropping to third place.

In a statement, Toyota attributed its resurgence as the number one automaker to the popularity of its hybrid cars. It said that its line of Prius models (Prius, Prius v, Prius Plug-in and Prius c) have a high demand that is currently outpacing the company's sales target of over 220,000 units sold in the U.S. In particular, the 2012 Toyota Prius c (shown above), which gets 53 mpg in the city and starts at $18,950, has been selling far better than originally estimated and Toyota has increased production to meet the demand.