DETROIT – General Motors Corp.’s 2006 worldwide sales dropped slightly to 9.09 million cars and trucks, but that was probably enough to keep the title of world’s largest auto seller.

The Detroit automaker said Wednesday that its 2006 global sales fell 0.9 percent from 9.17 million in 2005. Toyota Motor Corp. has estimated that it sold 8.8 million vehicles last year, but final numbers won’t be released until later this month.

It’s likely to be a much closer race this year, according to several auto industry analysts who say that with Toyota experiencing growth in North America and other areas, GM may have to give up the title.

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner has vowed a fight to keep the No. 1 spot.

“Let’s just say it’s going to be a good old-fashioned horse race for 2007,” said Erich Merkle, director of forecasting for the auto consulting company IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids.

Toyota has said it expects to produce 9.42 million vehicles this year. GM hasn’t disclosed 2007 worldwide production estimates, but Wagoner has said the company has capacity to produce more than Toyota says it will make this year.

“Being the largest car company in the world can’t be a focus, it has to be a byproduct of giving people in each market the vehicles they really want. GM enjoys that position today,” John Middlebrook, GM’s vice president for global sales, said in a news release.

GM, which is struggling with lagging North American sales and a corporate restructuring, attributed the 2006 decline in part to planned cuts of 75,000 vehicles sold to rental car companies for little profit. GM earlier reported U.S. sales of 4.12 million in 2006, down about 9 percent from the previous year.

GM sold more cars and trucks overseas than it did at home last year. The company said a preliminary count of its non-U.S. sales last year totaled 4.97 million vehicles, or 55 percent of the worldwide total. That is up about 7 percent from 2005.

Sales grew 18 percent in GM’s Asia-Pacific market and 17 percent in its Latin America, Africa and Middle East region.

Merkle said that if GM produces cars and trucks to match demand, “I think they’ll be hard-pressed to stay No. 1. I think Toyota will probably overtake them in 2007,” he said.

Michael Robinet, vice president of global forecast services for Northville-based CSM Worldwide, an auto industry consulting company, said GM isn’t likely to boost production solely to beat Toyota. He said GM wants to make money more than it wants to be No. 1.

“If GM can be more profitable selling fewer vehicles at higher margins, that’s the route GM is going to take,” he said. “In the end, profit is king.”

GM’s wild card in the race with Toyota is China, where it saw total sales rise 32 percent last year over 2005 to 876,747 vehicles. China’s biggest-selling automaker last year was Shanghai General Motors Corp., a GM joint venture, with 365,400 vehicles sold, according to a Chinese industry group.

“GM’s had a lot of growth in China, and I expect them to continue growing there in 2007. I don’t know if it’s enough to offset the losses in other areas of the world, namely North America,” Merkle said.

Wagoner has said that GM will fight for every sale, but will stay within its strategy of relying on quality products to make money and less on selling cars and trucks with incentives.

If Toyota does pass GM, Wagoner said he would not be pleased, but the company would fight to get the crown back in 2008.

GM shares rose 2 cents to $30.87 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They have traded in a 52-week range of $19 to $36.56.



On the Net:

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com

Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com

AP-ES-01-17-07 1614EST


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