General Motors said today that its worldwide sales fell 11.4% in the third quarter from a year ago to 2.115 million vehicles, leaving the US car maker behind Toyota as the industry leader.
The Detroit giant, struggling in the face of tough economic conditions in North America and fierce competition, remained behind Japanese-based Toyota, which reported sales of 2.236 million vehicles in the quarter.
GM, the longtime global leader, fell behind Toyota in the first quarter of 2008. GM said more than 60% of its sales during the third quarter were registered outside the United States.
'The US market does continue to be challenging,' said Mike DiGiovanni, GM's director of global market analysis. 'But we're still setting records in Asia Pacific and Latin America,' he said.
