Toyota Motor Corporation is the world's best-selling automobile manufacturer, passing General Motors (GM), according to 2008 sales figures released by both companies today. Toyota sold 8.97 million vehicles last year, compared with GM's 8.35 million. This ends GM's 77-year reign as the top-selling automaker. However, Toyota's 2008 sales figures represent the company's first annual decline in a decade, a 4 percent decline from 2007; GM's 2008 figures are down 11 percent from the previous year.