General Motors regained the rank of world number one for the second quarter of 2007, outselling Toyota Motor, but its Japanese rival came out on top for the first half of the year.
Toyota said Friday that it had sold 2.37 million vehicles worldwide in the three months to June, slipping behind Detroit-based GM which reported Thursday it had sold 2.41 million in the same period.
“GM still is the top automaker in the United States, supported by many fans,” said Tatsuya Mizuno, an auto analyst at Fitch Ratings.
“The company showed its fundamental power” in the second quarter, he said.
But thanks to a strong first quarter, Toyota beat GM for the six months to June as a whole, selling 4.71 million units against GM's 4.67 million.
Toyota is enjoying brisk demand, particularly in the United States, as higher prices at the fuel pump boost demand for compact cars, small sport utility vehicles and hybrids which use a mix of electricity and petrol.
“People are buying more compact cars, not pick-up trucks any more, especially in the largest automobile market, the United States,” said Mitsuyuki Odaira, an auto analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.
“And even outside of the United States and Japan, in areas where those carmakers are not getting patriotic support, Toyota is boosting its sales while GM is seeing its figures peaking,” he said.
“That means the trend of favouring compact cars over pick-up trucks is widening throughout the world.”
Mizuno at Fitch Ratings said it was still inevitable the US automaker would hand over its crown to Toyota at the end of 2007, ending GM's 76-year reign as the world's best-selling automaker.
GM has been struggling to maintain domestic momentum, with its US sales sliding 24 percent in June to 326,300 vehicles, even as Toyota's sales in the world's largest economy jumped 6.1 percent to 245,739.
Toyota has been careful not to gloat about its rapid growth, fearing a protectionist backlash as seen in the United States in the 1980s.
“We are aware of GM's figures,” was all that Toyota spokeswoman Nahoko Horino would say on the issue.
Toyota was a pioneer of environmentally friendly hybrids, which proved a major hit in the United States, whose own automakers have spent the last decade focusing on gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles.
Toyota, which marks the 70th anniversary of its founding this year, sold 8.52 million vehicles in the last fiscal year to March, up 6.9 percent. It expects to sell 9.34 million cars and trucks in 2007.
The Japanese automaker, along with its rivals, recently hit a small bump in its rapid expansion after a major earthquake that struck central Japan on Monday forced it to halt production for a few days because of a lack of parts.
But analysts have played down the impact of the stoppages, which they say can be made up for later and reflect the efficiency of the Japanese automakers and their “just-in-time” parts delivery system.
“We have all known for a long time that the industry has highly efficient production lines,” said Odaira, adding that the temporary suspension was unlikely to affect the company's overall prospects.
