Toyota takes global sales lead from GM

Toyota Motor Corp. has taken the global automotive sales lead from General Motors Corp., selling 2.41 million vehicles to GM’s 2.25 million over the first three months of the year.

GM said today its first-quarter sales dropped across the globe by less than 1%, but Toyota said its sales were up 2.7% during the January-through-March period.

GM barely won the global sales race with Japan-based Toyota last year.

A record 64% of GM’s sales came from outside the United States.

Strong demand in Europe supported Toyota’s worldwide sales.

GM posted record sales in three of its four regions, but a 10% drop in North America pulled down the overall numbers. Sales were up 8% outside of North America, the Detroit automaker said.

“While the challenges of the U.S. economy continue to put pressure on the automotive industry there, we saw nearly 20% growth in the Latin America, Africa and Middle East, and 6% growth in the Asia Pacific region," John Middlebrook, GM vice president of global sales, said in a statement. Detroit Free Press