Business - GM faces a fall to No.2 as global sales slip

Bill Vlasic


DETROIT: General Motors said Wednesday that its global sales fell 11.4 percent in the third quarter, increasing the likelihood that GM would lose its title as the world's largest automaker to Toyota this year.

GM said it sold 2.11 million vehicles in the quarter, compared with 2.38 million a year ago, as slumping demand in North America and Europe offset smaller gains in other regions.

For the year so far, GM has sold 6.65 million vehicles, almost 400,000 fewer than the 7.05 million vehicles that Toyota of Japan sold in the period.

Last year, GM edged Toyota by 3,000 vehicles to retain its status as the world's biggest automaker for a 77th consecutive year.

The third quarter was particularly difficult for GM, which is in merger talks with its Detroit rival, Chrysler.

During the third quarter, GM's North American sales fell 18.9 percent and its European sales dropped 12.3 percent. The automaker's sales gained 3.4 percent in its Latin America, Africa and Middle East region and 2.6 percent in Asia-Pacific.

GM performed worse than the overall market in every region except Asia-Pacific.

During the quarter, industry sales fell 15.5 percent in North America, 6.8 percent in Europe and 2.7 percent in Asia Pacific. Industry sales in the Latin America-Africa-Middle East region increased 5.8 percent in the quarter.

Automakers have been hurt in North America this year by unstable fuel prices, a weak economy and a widening credit crisis that made it difficult for prospective new-car buyers to get loans.

"Uncertainty was the watchword in the third quarter," Michael DiGiovanni, GM's chief global market analyst, said.

He said that despite actions by the U.S. government to restore stability to the financial markets, consumers remained wary of buying new vehicles.

"In the U.S. we believe it's more an issue of consumer confidence than of credit availability," he said.

With sales plunging in North America, GM's international sales grew as a percentage of its overall volume.

During the third quarter, GM sold 1.28 million vehicles outside of the United States, accounting for 61 percent of its total sales compared with 56 percent a year ago.