GM says won't spend to regain No.1 carmaker rank-paper

FRANKFURT, Jan 12 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp GM.N, which is likely to have been supplanted by Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) as the world's largest carmaker last year, says quality is more important than production volume.

GM would not "spend one dollar in order to be number one," global product chief Bob Lutz told industry newspaper Automobilwoche in an interview due to be published on Monday.

"Good product quality, the company's image and the profit for shareholders are more important goals than the top position in volume."

Toyota said on Thursday global vehicle sales rose 6 percent to 9.37 million units in 2007, almost certainly nudging out GM, which has not yet published full year figures but has been the biggest automaker in the world for decades.

Lutz added that he did not intend to retire until the market launch of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in 2011 is underway. (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner, Editing by Peter Blackburn)