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GM noses out Toyota in sales

General Motors' 77-year streak as global leader stays intact in 2007 - but just barely.

TOKYO - Toyota said Thursday it sold 9.366-million vehicles around the world last year, about 3,000 fewer than the tally from General Motors, the world's No. 1 automaker for 77 years.

Earlier, Toyota Motor Corp. said it had sold about 9.37-million vehicles worldwide last year, making for an extremely tight race with U.S. automaker General Motors Corp., which provided an exact figure, saying it sold 9,369,524 vehicles.

But Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco confirmed the extra digit Thursday.

Both companies have denied they are too concerned about the numbers games.

Toyota executives even have expressed worries about a possible backlash if they dethrone GM, an American icon. The Japanese automaker has been setting up more plants in North America and has tried to show it's a good U.S. corporate citizen.

But the razor-thin margin that determined last year's sales leader underlines GM's struggles, with recent years of job cuts, earning losses and plant closures - as well as Toyota's phenomenal growth not only in the U.S. but in emerging markets.

Still, it was in new markets such as China that GM still led Toyota, managing to come out ahead for the time being.

But the competition in such markets is likely to determine the winner in the long run.

Toyota's share of the U.S. market has more than doubled since 1990, when it sold about 1-million vehicles for a 7.5 percent share of the domestic market, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank.

In that time Toyota sales have grown briskly as drivers opted for its smaller, fuel-efficient cars and their reputation for reliability. In 2007, Toyota sold 2.6-million vehicles in the United States, a 16 percent share of the market.

GM, third on the Fortune 500 list of U.S. corporations, remains the domestic auto sales leader. But its market share has dropped dramatically from about 35 percent in 1990 to about 24 percent in 2007. GM sold 3.8-million vehicles in the United States last year.

THE STORY: General Motors Corp. barely edged out Toyota Motor Corp. for the title of 2007 global auto sales leader, beating the Japanese automaker by about 3,000 vehicles. GM has held the title since 1931.

THE NUMBERS: GM said Wednesday it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide, while Toyota said it sold 9.366-million vehicles, after previously saying it sold 9.37-million.

Why so close? Analysts say Toyota practically caught GM largely because the Japanese automaker has done well on GM's home turf in the United States, whereas GM has seen U.S. sales decline. But both have expanded sales overseas, where the future winner is likely to be decided.

[Last modified January 24, 2008, 00:59:06]