Toyota expected to overtake GM in 2007 global sales

Japan's Toyota Motor, which plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles next year, up from the 8.8 million that it had sold by the end of November, is widely expected to overtake General Motors as the world's largest auto company in 2007.

GM's total sales forecast for 2006 is 9.2 million vehicles. But while GM has announced planned plant shut down and layoffs for the next year, the Japanese automaker expects to increase its sales by around 500,000.

According to the The New York Times, "Toyota got its start in the 1930s by reverse-engineering GM and Ford cars, and then spent decades catching up with Detroit."

However, quoting analyst, the report says, becoming the global leader would also have its pitfalls for Toyota. "The Japanese automaker could become a victim of its own success and follow GM's decline if it grows complacent, or lets quality control slip amid its rapid expansion," it quoted.

GM registered the highest sales growth of 293,558 vehicles or 6.1 per cent in the US in November 2006 over its sales in November 2005 — the highest sales by volume. Detroit-based GM's market share was 24.5 per cent in November.