GM falls behind Toyota in annual global sales

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. sold more cars and trucks last year than General Motors Corp., stripping the Detroit automaker of the No. 1 global sales crown. But it’s a victory made hollow by the overall industry’s continued struggle for viability amid one of its worst sales declines ever.

GM said Wednesday it sold 8,355,947 cars and trucks around the world in 2008, falling about 616,000 vehicles short of the 8.972 million Toyota announced Tuesday.

Toyota’s move into the top sales spot wasn’t a huge surprise. The automaker nearly topped GM in 2007, selling only about 3,000 fewer vehicles than the U.S. company did that year.

Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, downplayed the significance of the drop to No. 2, saying that the automaker is focused on profitability rather than sales volume.

“I don’t think being No. 1 in vehicle sales means much at all to the American consumer,” DiGiovanni said in a conference call with analysts and automotive journalists. “I think what matters most to the consumer is strong brands and strong products. And the key thing right now with what the industry is going through now is viability and profitability.”

DiGiovanni said Toyota’s move to the top of sales rankings doesn’t necessarily signal a turning point in the industry. He said it’s entirely possible that GM could regain the No. 1 spot once U.S. and European markets recover and sales in key emerging markets pick up.

“That story has yet to be written,” DiGiovanni said. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen.”