January 24, 2008 -- General Motors looks to be in danger of losing its 76-year title as the world's biggest carmaker in terms of sales as totals for 2007 released yesterday showed the Detroit company in a virtual tie with Japan's Toyota.

Toyota, which makes cars for the European markets at its plant at Burnaston, near Derby, has been the world's most profitable carmaker for a number of years.

Its senior executives have denied that the company had designs on becoming number one in sales, but the group has been quietly gaining ground over its US rival.

GM, which takes in European brands Vauxhall, Opel and Saab, reported that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide last year, up three per cent from 2006.

Earlier this month, Toyota reported global sales of 9.37 million vehicles, but the Japanese automaker did not release a number down to the last vehicle.

"The race is too close to call," Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis said yesterday. "I don't think anybody knows at this point."

GM has held the title of world's largest automaker since 1931, but Toyota's strong US growth and GM's US sales decline have helped it to move closer to the top spot in recent years.

John Middlebrook, GM vice president for global sales, service and marketing operations, said sales in China, Russia and Brazil had helped to drive last year's three per cent gain.

"This is the kind of emerging market growth that fuels our global performance," Mr Middlebrook said in a statement.

"Customers are responding to our fuelefficient and dynamically-designed product lineup around the world."

GM said 2007 sales were the second best global total in the company's 100-year history and marked the third consecutive time, and fourth time ever, that GM sold more than nine million vehicles a year.

Toyota's share of the US market has more than doubled since 1990, when it controlled only 7.5 per cent of the market with just over one million in sales, according to Ward's Auto Info Bank.

Its sales have grown briskly in recent years, sometimes by double digits, as people bought its smaller, fuel efficient cars with a reputation for reliability. By 2007, Toyota controlled 16.3 per cent of the US market, selling 2.6 million vehicles.

GM, while still the US sales leader, has seen its US market share drop dramatically since 1990, when it controlled about 35 per cent by selling nearly five million vehicles.

Last year GM's share was roughly 23.8 per cent, with sales of 3.8 million vehicles.

GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner has pledged to defend his company's title, but said it would not abandon its US strategy of reducing incentives and low-profit sales to rental car companies in order to win.

"Great cars, smart marketing, growth in the emerging markets. And hopefully that will keep us on top. If not, we'll come back to work the next day and work even harder," Mr Wagoner said earlier this month.

The title in coming years likely will be decided by sales in burgeoning markets such as China, Russia, South America and other regions with a growing middle class.

Mature markets in North America and Europe, meanwhile, are likely to post slower growth, analysts say, and Japan's car market is shrinking.

Toyota is setting up overseas plants to achieve growth in new markets - aiming to sell 9.85 million vehicles worldwide this year, up five percent from last year, under an ambitious plan it announced last month.

Toyota executives also said they projected better vehicle sales in the US this year.

Shoichiro Toyoda, a member of the founding family and former Toyota president, said gaining the top spot in the auto industry could be transient.

"We are not No. 1," he said when asked recently how he felt about becoming the world's biggest carmaker.

"It's just one moment," he said at a reception for manufacturers this month. "We need to just keep working harder."

Other Toyota executives have also consistently brushed off questions about becoming number one.

Some company officials acknowledge they are even nervous about wresting the honours because of fears about a US political backlash reminiscent of the "Japan-bashing" of the 1980s and 90s, when the nation was accused of taking jobs from American workers.

Earlier this month, Toyota deposed Ford as the number two car seller in the US in 2007.

Source: Birmingham Post