For the first time in 77 years, General Motors can no longer describe itself yesterday as the world's biggest carmaker.

The Detroit company, now dependent on billions of dollars in government aid for its survival, said yesterday its global sales dipped to 8.35m last year, behind Toyota Motor's 8.97m.

GM's shipments fell by 11 per cent; Toyota's dropped 4 per cent. Total industry sales shrank by 3.5m vehicles last year, with the US, Japan and Europe accounting for about half the drop.

Mike DiGiovanni, GM's sales analyst, brushed off losing the top slot, saying: “We're really focused on being a healthy, profitable company.”

However, the rivalry between America's and Japan's largest carmakers remains intense. They are racing to bring plug-in rechargeable cars to the market.

Mr DiGiovanni said GM remained ahead in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. It sold 64 per cent of its vehicles outside North America last year, up from 59 per cent in 2007.

参考译文：

昨日，通用汽车(General Motors) 77年来第一次无法再自称为全球最大的汽车制造商。

这家底特律公司如今正依靠政府提供的数以十亿计美元援助维持生存。该公司昨日表示，去年其全球销量降至835万辆，低于丰田汽车(Toyota Motor)的897万辆。

通用汽车的发货量下降了11%；丰田发货量的降幅为4%。全行业去年销量下降350万辆，美国、日本和欧洲占了下降销量中的一半左右。

通用汽车的销售分析师迈克?迪乔瓦尼(Mike DiGiovanni)对失去榜首位置不以为然，他表示：“我们真正注重的是成为一家健康、盈利的企业。”

然而，美日两国最大汽车制造商之间的竞争仍十分激烈。目前，它们正竞相要向市场推出插电式汽车。

迪乔瓦尼表示，在巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国等新兴市场，通用汽车依然领先。去年其64%汽车是销往北美以外，高于2007年的59%。