Ford to End GM's 78-Year Supremacy, Become Top Selling US Automaker

General Motors is losing ground in the United States and the Chapter 11 filing is probably the easiest way to prove you that. After Toyota managed to overtake GM and become the world's number 1 automaker, Ford is now getting ready to squeeze out GM's last drop of pride: according to a bunch of analysts, Ford has all the chances to surpass its domestic rival and become the top-selling automaker in the United States for the first time in 78 years.

John Wolkonowicz, an industry analyst with IHS Global Insight of Lexington, Massachusetts, told Bloomberg that an important share of the buyers, previously fans of the discontinued GM brands, might not be attracted by the remaining core assets and migrate towards Ford's very own models.

“Ford is on a real roll right now. Ford could overtake GM this year. A lot of Pontiac buyers, young, blue-collar women, may not like the rest of the GM lineup,” Wolkonowicz said. “They’re certainly not going to buy a Buick."

General Motors is holding the first place in the United States since 1927 when it managed to beat Ford mostly because Henry Ford decided to halt production and move from Model T towards Model A. Ford re-became the leader in 1929 and held it for one year, while GM took leadership in 1931 and remained the top-selling automaker for no less than 78 years.

What's interesting is that General Motors never believed such a thing could happen, as even GM Marketing Chief Mark LaNeve said on June 1 that Ford has no chances to become the top selling US car maker. Still, the battle should be tight.

“We’ll have four brands, they have three,” LaNeve said. “There won’t be any natural reason why we should be that far ahead of them.”