Toyota outdoes GM in Q1 global sales

For the first time ever in the January-March quarter (Q1), Japanese carmaker Toyota Motors' sales of cars and trucks have overtaken those of US-based General Motors. This was on the back of higher demand for Toyota's Corolla and Camry sedans.

Toyota's global sales rose 9.2% to 2.35 million vehicles, the company said today. Sales at GM, the world's largest carmaker for 76 years, gained 3% to 2.26 million vehicles, according to a release on the company website.

The addition of its sixth North American factory in San Antonio last year helped spur Toyota's sales in the US, GM's home market. Demand for Toyota's fuel-efficient vehicles, including the Prius gasoline-electric hybrid, has surged as sales of GM's light trucks have slumped on higher fuel prices.

Toyota's sales in the grew 13% to 2.54 million last year, prodding it to set up more factories. The carmaker in February said it will open its eighth North American factory in Mississippi in 2010 to build Highlander sport-utility vehicles.