General Motors Corp. (GM) said Wednesday it's counting on government stimulus packages being considered by nations around the globe to help reverse skidding sales.

The No. 1 U.S. auto maker reported an 11% drop in 2008 sales, capping a year in which GM lost its standing as the world's biggest auto maker by sales to Toyota Motor Co. (TM) after 77 years.

GM, which sold 5.37 million vehicles last year, predicted the environment will remain bleak through the first quarter.

In the U.S., January sales will likely come in at a seasonally adjusted rate of around 10 million vehicle sales, similar to the multi-decade lows seen toward the end of last year. Weak sales are due, in part, to factory shutdowns that have curtailed auto makers' ability meet demand from rental car companies, GM's chief sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni said. GM, along with most major auto makers, idled many plants for the month to get inventories in line with anemic demand.

Conditions in western Europe will remain challenging, DiGiovanni said, as nations struggle with a housing crisis similar to the one in the U.S. He said developing markets that until recently boasted rapid growth will notch modest sales growth, although they will struggle with slowing growth and limited credit availability.

Stimulus packages being weighed by countries outside the U.S. could boost global sales by one million cars and trucks this year, DiGiovanni said.

"The global economy has slid into its deepest downturn since the early 1980s," DiGiovanni said. Global sales for the auto industry dropped by 3.5 million vehicles.

The declines for 2008 at GM were led by a 21% skid in North America to 3.6 million.

Slumping sales in Europe, which like the U.S. has fallen into recession, fell 6.5% for the year to 2.04 million.

Former hot spots in emerging markets reported slowing demand, with sales rising 2.7% in the Asia-Pacific region and 3.2% in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Still, Russia recorded 30% growth while Brazil gained 10% and India rose 9%. China sales increased 6%.

International sales rose to 64% of GM's total from 59% in 2007.

The dramatic decline in sales contributed to GM's financial crisis, which led the auto maker to plead for $13.4 billion in U.S. government aid at the end of last year to avoid a bankruptcy.

The auto maker played down the loss of the global sales crown to Toyota, which sold roughly 600,000 more cars and trucks than GM around the globe last year.

"They passed us in market cap, profitability and cash flow a long time ago," GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said Tuesday when asked about the sales race.

GM shares recently fell 21 cents, or 6% to $3.29.

-By Sharon Terlep, Dow Jones Newswires; 248-204-5532; sharon.terlep@dowjones.com.

(Kevin Kingsbury contributed to this report.)

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