Toyota has overtaken General Motors to become the world's largest carmaker, figures suggest.

The Japanese giant sold 2.348 million vehicles worldwide in the first quarter of 2007, according to company spokesman Satoshi Yamaguchi.

US-based General Motors sold 2.26 million cars and trucks in the same period, the firm said on their website.

Toyota's growing success comes on the back of strong sales of its Prius hybrid and Camry Sedan.

GM, meanwhile, has found it difficult to compete and was forced to close 12 factories and cut more than 34,000 jobs last year.

The firm made a loss of $2bn for 2006 and a loss of $10.4bn for 2005.

However, GM did return to profit in the fourth quarter of 2006.

And looking ahead, GM said it was confident that the momentum it generated at the end of 2006 would continue this year.

Shares in Toyota slipped 0.5 per cent to 7,370 yen in Tokyo on Monday evening, while GM shares closed down 3.2 per cent at $30.67 in New York.