Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's top carmaker, overtook Ford Motor Co. in July to become the second- largest U.S. auto seller, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

Toyota, based in Toyota City, Japan, sold 241,826 vehicles in the United States last month, 427 more than Ford and 12 percent more than a year ago.

Toyota, the world's biggest seller of hybrid cars, is close to ending GM's 80-year reign as the No. 1 automaker. Its sales grew 7.1 percent to 4.36 million in the first half of this year while GM's fell 2.3 percent to 4.6 million. The 240,000-units gap has narrowed by more than half from a year ago.

Higher oil prices help Toyota's more fuel-efficient cars grab a larger share of the U.S. market, analysts said.

Gasoline prices above 3 U.S. dollars a gallon prompted U.S. drivers to favor cars such as the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, and the Honda Civic. Toyota's vehicles sold in the U.S. average 27.1 miles to the gallon over the 22.9 miles for GM cars, according to Environmental Protection Agency data.

Earnings at Toyota jumped 39 percent to 3.2 billion dollars in the three months that ended June 30, while Ford reported an unexpected loss of 123 million dollars as sales of its sport- utility vehicles plummeted.

Source: Xinhua