Ford has reported a jump in US sales of 43% last month, selling more cars than its great rival General Motors (GM).

GM posted a more modest rise of 11.5%, as it benefited from customers abandoning Toyota over the Japanese firm’s recall problems.

“We got what we thought was our fair share of Toyota sales,” said Mike DiGiovanni, GM executive director.

Toyota reported a fall in sales of 8.7% for the first full month since it announced major recalls in January.

The world’s biggest carmaker has now recalled more than 8 million cars over concerns about accelerator pedals and brake systems.

The fall in sales was not as big as the company had feared. “I’m surprised that we sold as many vehicles as we did,” said Bob Carter, a Toyota group vice president.