Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday its global production rose in January for the 27th straight month as Japan's top automaker narrows the gap behind world leader General Motors.

Toyota Motor's global production totaled 663,948 vehicles in January, up 5.2 percent from the same month last year.

Overseas production surged 7.3 percent to 333,847 units in the 61st month of increase, while output in Japan climbed 3.2 percent to 330,101 vehicles, the 17th straight month of gain.

Last year, Toyota's global production jumped 10 percent to 9.018 million vehicles, bringing it closer to GM, which produced 9.18 million vehicles worldwide in 2006.

Toyota has said it set a global production target of 9.42 million vehicles for this year. GM does not announce annual production targets.

Rising oil prices have led drivers to opt for fuel-efficient cars, including the Prius hybrid, Corolla compact and the midsize Camry, the best-selling model in the U.S. market for the past several years.

At Honda Motor Co., which last year surpassed Nissan Motor Co. as Japan's No. 2 automaker, global production rose 11.9 percent to 316,334 vehicles in January, the 18th consecutive month of growth and a new monthly record for the month.

Honda had been ranked second among Japanese automakers in 2003, but dropped to No. 3 the last few years.

Honda's domestic production climbed 3.3 percent to 104,161 units for the 18th straight month of increase. Honda's overseas output jumped 16.6 percent to 212,173 vehicles, also the 18th straight month of on-year growth and a record for January, due mainly to increased production in North America and the rest of Asia.