GM, Toyota locked in race for world's top automaker

DETROIT - General Motors Corp.'s 76-year claim as the world's largest automaker is in jeopardy after preliminary sales totals for 2007 indicated a virtual tie with Toyota Motor Corp.

GM said yesterday its global sales rose 3 percent to 9,369,524 last year. Toyota said yesterday its volume climbed to 9,366,000, meaning the winner may not be determined until Monday, when the Japanese automaker gives a more precise figure.

Toyota erased a 3 million global sales gap since the start of the decade by boosting sales of its Camry sedan and stealing share from the Detroit-based automaker in the United States. GM chief executive Rick Wagoner, who never conceded the title, rallied from a first-half deficit by increasing sales in Brazil, China, and Russia.

"I don't think GM can be pleased with losing the title," said George Magliano, a New York-based analyst with Global Insight Inc. "GM has to be pleased with the way its global plan is going."

Toyota held a 39,000-sale advantage after six months before GM built a 10,000-unit lead through September. GM said yesterday its fourth-quarter deliveries climbed 4.8 percent.

GM sales rose 19 percent in the Latin America-Africa-Middle East region, 15 percent in the Asia-Pacific, and 8.9 percent in Europe while falling 6.1 percent in North America, its biggest market, according to the company. GM relied on regions outside the United States for 59 percent of its sales volume last year.

GM gained $2.05, or 8.7 percent, to $25.70 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Toyota's American depositary receipts were up $2.34, or 2.4 percent, to $99.25.

In its Jan. 10 statement, Toyota said its 6 percent global increase in 2007 resulted from rising demand in North America and Asia. Those gains helped offset a 4 percent sales decline in its home market.

The figure includes Toyota's Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor units.

GM still must "defend" mature markets in the United States and Europe as it increases production in the emerging markets, the automaker's chief sales analyst, Michael DiGiovanni, said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. The ultimate winner for global sales will likely be the company that's most successful in markets such as China, India, and Russia, he said.