After the tsunamis, earthquakes, and flooding that have happened in and around Japan for the last couple of years, Toyota’s production had understandably slowed.  In a comeback that would make Hollywood proud, however, Toyota has reclaimed its title as the world’s largest producer of automobiles.

Between January and March, Toyota sold 2.49 million vehicles, edging out (by 210,000) GM.  Fueling the rise back to the top is the demand for fuel-efficient cars, namely the Prius, which in 2012 has outsold the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf combined.

In that same line of thinking, Toyota is happy to announce its first all-electric vehicle, the RAV4 EV.  The new RAV4 EV is said to have a miles per charge (MPC) of 100, and performs at a level equivalent to its gas-powered sibling.

With a giant in the fuel-economy driven industry and an exciting new vehicle soon to be released, Toyota looks to be in strong position to continue to defend its title for quite some time.