Despite widespread recalls that once threatened to permanently tarnish the brand, Toyota has bounced back to return as the world's top automaker in 2010.
The Japanese car manufacturer edged ahead of General Motors with sales of 8.42 million vehicles around the world last year.
GM has faced its own headaches since the 2008 recession, which brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy and forced it to rely on massive U.S. government bailouts to survive.
The company appears to have largely rebounded now, with sales of 8.39 million vehicles in 2010, falling just behind Toyota and marking an impressive 12 per cent rebound from 2009. That year GM sold 7.48 million vehicles.
Some auto analysts believe it's only a matter of time before GM regains its status as the world's top seller -- a ranking the company held for almost 80 years.
"General Motors is going strong, and it's a sure sign of its re-emergence," said Yasuaki Iwamoto, auto analyst with Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.
Much of GM's growth in 2010 took place in China and the U.S. GM sold 2.35 million cars and trucks in China -- an increase of 28.8 per cent over 2009 -- and 2.21 million in the U.S.
Toyota, by comparison, sold 846,000 vehicles in China in 2010 and 1.76 million in the U.S.
But overall Toyota's sales worldwide were up by 8 per cent over 2009. That included a 10 per cent increase in sales in Japan, a 19 per cent increase in China and a 24 per cent jump in Asia, not including Japan.
A Toyota spokesperson said the company is more concerned with earning respect in its customer's eyes, than beating GM on sales.
"Our objective is to become number one with the customers," said Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco.
Toyota is still struggling to emerge from under the black cloud that formed over the company in 2009 when massive recalls were announced in North America.
More than 10 million vehicles were subject to the recalls related to faulty floor mats, sticky gas pedals, computer problems and other defects.
At the time, stories were emerging about Toyota vehicles accelerating out of control. The reports caused widespread concern about Toyota's once-stellar reputation for quality control.
Prior to the recall debacle and recession crisis, many thought Toyota was on track to sell as many as 10 million vehicles a year.
With files from The Associated Press
