GENERAL Motors Corp, poised to end a 77-year run as the world's largest auto maker, fell further behind Toyota Motor Corp in global sales in the third quarter as dwindling US and European demand erased gains in Asia.

Deliveries slid 11 percent to 2.114 million vehicles, Detroit-based GM said yesterday in a statement. That pushed GM's nine-month total to 6.656 million compared with 7.051 million for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, Bloomberg News reported.

The results further diminished GM's chances of keeping the crown it retained by 3,000 units, or less than 1 percent of the total, in 2007. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner has said the sales title was worth contesting.

Auto makers have been battered this year in what may be the worst US market since 1993, first with rising fuel prices that sapped sales of pickups and sport-utility vehicles, then with the global credit crunch drying up access to loans. GM and Toyota have cut output and offered incentives such as zero-interest financing.

GM sales on its home turf plunged 21 percent last quarter to 823,431 vehicles, while Toyota's US deliveries fell 18 percent to 553,217, according to Autodata Corp. In Europe, Toyota sales dropped 3.4 percent, and GM's 12 percent.