Coca-Cola Co. outperformed its main rivals in the all-important U.S. soft drink market last year due in part to strong sales of its Vanilla Coke and Diet Coke brands, according to a survey released Monday by beverage industry specialists.

The world’s No. 1 soft drink maker grew its share of the $62.9 billion U.S. carbonated soft drink market by 0.6 percent to 44.3 percent in 2002, according to data compiled by industry newsletter Beverage Digest and analyst John Maxwell.

The growth, which came on the heels of three-straight years of declines, helped Coca-Cola retain a commanding lead over archrival PepsiCo. Inc., which saw its market share dip 0.2 percent to 31.4 percent.

Coca-Cola’s performance was boosted last year by the introduction of Vanilla Coke, which added about 90 million cases to the company’s overall volumes. PepsiCo. also benefited from sales of its new Mountain Dew Code Red soft drink.