Toyota tops GM as No.1 automaker

For 77 years, dating back to the Depression days of the early 30s, GM was the world largest automaker. It no longer is.

In 2008, Toyota finally topped its arch-rival.

GM has announced that its global vehicle sales last year were 8.35 million, down almost 11 percent from 2007. Toyota's total sales were 8.972 million for 2008, down 4 percent over the previous year.

GM has been downplaying Toyota's success for years. But now there are only admissions to make.

GM's Chief Operation Officer Fritz Henderson said of Toyota: "They passed us in terms of market cap, profitability, cash flow long ago."

Translation: We've been beat for a long time. This isn't news.

Henderson goes on to say," I focus on the sales and how to make us successful. ...Honestly this is not a measure that I pay a lot of attention to."

With GM sales still plummeting, Henderson may not be focusing enough. And he may want to ask himself who GM is losing market share to.