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Stop the press!
Toyota overtakes GM as world's number one in total sales
Toyota wrested the "No. 1 carmaker in the world" title from General Motors after globally outselling—for the first time ever in history—its American rival in the first quarter of 2007 by about 100,000 units. GM had held that position since 1930, when it overtook Ford.
Toyota had been widely expected to chal-lenge 99-year-old GM this year for the top spot in global sales—a position the Detroit behe-moth had held for 76 years—but the milestone came surprisingly early. Both companies reported record sales for January-March, but Japan's top carmaker inched past GM as it ate into the latter's market share on its home turf. Toyota's global vehicle sales rose nine percent to 2.35 million units in the quarter. This includes cars sold under the Lexus luxury brand and the youth-oriented Scion badge, as well as vehicles from units Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. GM, which sells cars and trucks under brands including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel and Saab, sold 2.26 million units during the same period, for a three-percent rise.
"Toyota has had aggressive new model introductions all over the world," said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Credit Suisse Securities in Tokyo, in an interview with the Reuters news agency. "It's achieved growth everywhere in the world, whereas GM's significant growth has only been in China," he said. Toyota has won fans around the world with affordable cars seen as reliable, durable and fuel-efficient, while GM continued to rely heavily on high-margin but gas-guzzling vehicles to pull it out of financial difficulties.
To keep up with soaring demand, Toyota is adding production capacity in almost every corner of the globe, from San Antonio to St. Petersburg, with an internal goal of taking 15 percent of the global car market by 2010. GM estimated its share in the first quarter at 13 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from a year ago. This year, Toyota plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles as a group, up six percent from 2006. GM does not provide a global sales forecast.
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Top Gear Philippines - June 2007
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