General Motors Corp. on Jan. 23 reported global sales of 9.37 million vehicles in 2007, which forces them to share the mantle of the world's largest automaker with Toyota Motor Corp. for the first time in 76 years, according to a report on Reuters.
The final tallies are GM at 9,369,524 and Toyota at 9.37 million.
Toyota's sales in the U.S. have been increasing while GM's domestic sales have been decreasing. GM's sales in North America -- its largest market -- fell 6.1% in 2007.
However outside of the U.S., GM has been increasing its market share with those sales accounting for 59% of total sales. Sales in the Asia Pacific region rose 15.1% led by China, while sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 19.4%, driven by Brazil. Sales in Europe rose 8.9%. Sales outside the U.S. came in at 5.5 million units.
Since 1998, GM's global sales have grown at an average annual rate of about 1.5%, while Toyota's growth rate has been five times that.
