And the battle continues – Toyota is ahead of GM in worldwide sales through second quarter and the first half of 2008. GM trails behind due to a large decline in its North American sales. Sales for the Detroit automakers were down 3 percent to 4.54 million units sold in the first half of 2008. High sales in Europe, Asia and Latin America weren’t enough to make up for a 15 percent decline in North America.

Toyota on the other hand reported a 2.2 percent increase to 4.8 million in the first half of 2008.

Both Toyota and GM have cut back on SUV and pickup production as a response consumers shift to fuel-efficient compact cars.

GM was slightly ahead of Toyota in 2007.

Source: Reuters