With December automotive sales results coming in this week, General Motors Corporation(NYSE:GM) still held on to the top spot, with Ford Motor Company(NYSE:F) -- even with declining sales -- capturing the second spot, followed by the venerable Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:TM). Japan's largest carmaker still seems rather intent on capturing the top sales spot worldwide from GM, and it very well may do that in 2007. In fact, Toyota's sales growth in 2006 beat just about everybody worldwide by a large margin.

Is GM in trouble of losing a symbolic #1 sales spot among global automakers? If GM CEO Rick Wagoner has anything to say, it's that GM will do everything in its power to not let that happen (although there is not much meaning outside of a symbolic ranking -- but that can affect a dizzying array of other factors).

Wagoner yesterday indicated that his company has room for growth worldwide (where, I wonder?) and will forcefully defend its title from the main challenger, Toyota. "I like being No. 1, and I think our people take pride in it ... it's not something we're going to sit back and let somebody else pass us by." Them's fightin' words.

Toyota has said that it wants to produce 9.42 million vehicles in 2008 -- which means that it is more likely that it will surpass GM at that point based on the 9.2 million vehicles GM is estimated to have produced just last year.

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