Toyota expected to top GM in U.S. market share in 2010.

NEW YORK, May 22 Kyodo

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to replace General Motors Corp. as the carmaker with the most U.S. sales in 2010, U.S. automobile magazine Automotive News reported in its electronic edition Thursday.

Toyota's U.S. market share would be the largest of any company since Toyota established a U.S. sales arm in 1957. It topped GM in global sales in 2008 for the first time.

Toyota's U.S. market share is projected to rise to 17.6 percent against 17.3 percent for GM in 2010, the magazine said, quoting U.S. research firm IHS Global Insight Inc.

In the first four months of this year, Toyota's U.S. market share fell by 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier to 16.1 percent and GM's share decreased by 2.7 points to 19.2 percent.

Toyota is expected to expand its share as GM accelerates its downsizing in its turnaround efforts.

IHS Global Insight predicted U.S. new vehicle sales to decline 30 percent to 9.5 million units in 2009 and rise back to 11.3 million units in 2010.