TOYOTA said yesterday that it planned in 2009 to be the first company in the world to sell more than 10 million vehicles, predicting growth both in emerging economies and North America.

Toyota, which is jostling with General Motors (GM) for the title of top carmaker in the current year, unveiled a bullish business plan including steady sales in the United States, which has been beset by problems in its housing sector.

The pioneer of eco-friendly hybrids, Toyota has won an especially strong following in the US, where sky-high prices at the pump have boosted demand for the Japanese group's smaller vehicles.

Toyota - including subsidiaries truckmaker Hino Motors and small car specialist Daihatsu Motor - anticipated sales to climb from a forecast 9.34 million this year to 9.8 million next year.

"We target total retail sales of 10.4 million units in 2009, including those of Hino and Daihatsu, and to sustain the base for a high level of growth," Toyota Motor president Katsuaki Watanabe told a press conference in Tokyo.

GM has been the world's best-selling carmaker for seven decades and holds the all-time annual record when it sold 9.55 million cars and trucks worldwide in 1978.

Toyota has been running neck and neck with GM in sales in the current year.

The recovering Detroit giant regained its rank of world No.1 in the second quarter of this year, but the Japanese company came out on top for the first half-year.

Amid signs of economic trouble in the US, Toyota has looked to emerging economies for its future growth, expanding production in China and Russia along with North America.

"Without any doubt, car ownership will continue to grow around the world, mainly in the areas of the BRICs," Mr Watanabe said, referring to the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

"One estimate is that car ownership in the world could reach one billion in 2010," he said.

But he also expected the US economy to slow down throughout the year, due to high oil prices, and the problems in sub-prime housing loans to high-risk customers who are now defaulting.

"We want to withstand this economy with a sales plan that is more aggressive for the market level,? Mr Watanabe said.