GM clings on to global market lead

General Motors, a symbol of American industrial might and the world's top seller of motor vehicles since Herbert Hoover was president, has been all-but-overtaken by a foreign rival.

Toyota said yesterday it sold 9.366 million vehicles last year globally, about 3,000 vehicles fewer than the tally from General Motors, allowing the US automaker to retain its crown as the world's No 1 automaker.

All year long, the two automakers raced neck-and-neck in global sales, highlighting Toyota's phenomenal growth and the struggles facing GM and other American automakers.

Toyota had said as late as Wednesday that its annual total was 9.37 million vehicles, up 6 percent from 2006. General Motors said on Wednesday in Detroit its global sales had risen 3 percent to 9,369,524 vehicles, making for a race that appeared too close to call.

But Toyota Motor Corp spokesman Paul Nolasco in Tokyo confirmed the extra digit in Toyota's sales yesterday, showing that GM's total was narrowly higher. GM has been the world's top seller for 77 years.

Despite the intense interest in their rivalry, both companies have played down the numbers games.

Toyota executives have repeatedly 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 US corporate citizen.

Nolasco refused to comment on GM's retention of the No 1 title. But he said Toyota sees sales growth as a reflection of how people recognize its products.

In Detroit, GM wasn't gloating. The company's global strategy hasn't changed, said company spokesman John McDonald.

"We're not as concerned about who's winning," he said. "We're just really focused on what we need to do to have a growing business, getting our business right in North America."

Overall, GM's worldwide sales in 2007 were the second-best in its 100-year history.

It's biggest sales growth Still, GM has struggled in recent years with job cuts, earning losses and plant closures.

Toyota has seized the lead in ecological hybrids with its hit Prius, which runs on a gas engine and electric motor, selling more hybrids than any other automaker. And that edge came at a good time when consumers were looking for good mileage amid soaring gas prices.

Earlier this month, Toyota deposed Ford Motor Co as the No 2 auto seller in the US for 2007. Toyota sold 2.6 million vehicles in the US for a 16 percent share of the market - and more than double from what it sold in 1990.

US leader

GM remains the auto sales leader in the US. 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.

It was in new markets such as China that GM still led Toyota, managing to come out ahead for the time being. And the competition in such markets is likely to determine the winner in the long run.

Toyota, which is aggressively expanding overseas production, is forecasting robust growth for this year at selling 9.85 million vehicles, up 5 percent from this year.

GM does not give comparable sales forecasts.

In a typical comment for a Toyota executive, Shoichiro Toyoda, a former company president, said earlier this month that gaining the top spot in the auto industry could be fleeting.

"We are not No 1," he said. "We need to just keep working harder."

Agencies

(China Daily 01/25/2008 page16)