LITTLE ROCK — General Motors Corp. outsold Toyota Motor Corp. in the first nine months of the year in the battle to extend its 76-year reign as the world's largest carmaker.
GM, buoyed by sales outside the United States, sold 7.06 million vehicles through September, helped by Chevrolet-brand sales and the Opel Corsa small car, taking a lead of 10,000 unitsover Toyota's 7.05 million, the two companies said in separate statements. At the end of the first half, Toyota, maker of the Camry sedan, led by 39,000 vehicles.
Toyota's sales in the United States, its largest overseas market, dropped each month of the third quarter, the longest stretch of declines since 1995. Detroitbased GM won customers in Brazil, Russia and China, boosting sales by 4 percent in the quarter.
Toyota sold 2.34 million vehicles globally, compared with GM's 2.39 million, in the three months that ended Sept. 30.
GM estimates it will build 9.285 million vehicles worldwide this year, the company said last month.
That compares with Toyota's group plan of 9.42 million vehicles.
Information for this article was provided by Greg Bensinger and Jeremy van Loon of Bloomberg News.
Business, Pages 28 on 10/23/2007