Toyota sales up 5 percent, first rise in 15 months

The global sales of Toyota increased five percent in October from a year earlier to about 640,000 vehicles. Its the first such recorded rise in 15 months, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed company sources.

Toyota Motor Corporation announced earlier this month a surprise return to profit in the quarter to September and narrowed its loss forecast for the full year, helped by the increasing demand for fuel-efficient cars.

The fifth largest company in the world according to Fortune Global 500, the car manufacturer now supplies more than 140 countries. In 2008, the Japanese maker displaced its US rival, General Motors as the world's top selling automaker but fell into the red for the first time in the year to March 2009. It has even idled its plants, cut thousands of jobs as it tries to brave its biggest ever crisis. Toyota is to officially announce its October sales figures later this month.