Unthinkable: Toyota May Top GM In June Sales Here In US

[Perian]

Link: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchar...us-sales-champ

Quote:

There's little doubt that Toyota will displace General Motors as the world's biggest automaker when 2008 sales are finally tallied. GM edged out its Japanese rival in 2007, but the American giant continues to struggle with a drawn-out turnaround plan and billions in losses. Toyota, by contrast, has been growing virtually everywhere it does business, with record profits in 2007. Ascending to No. 1 worldwide seems inevitable.

Now, here's a startling new possibility: Toyota could overtake GM in its home market, the first time ever that a foreign company would be the No. 1 seller of cars in the United States. Only a few months ago, that seemed implausible. Toyota's market share had grown consistently, to about 16 percent of the U.S. market at the end of 2007. But GM still had a commanding lead, with 23 percent of the market. And share swings of more than a point or two in a given year are rare.

But car sales this year have flipped more dramatically than anybody anticipated, and suddenly Toyota is within striking distance of GM. In May, Toyota's market share surged to 18.4 percent, according to J.D. Power & Associates, as buyers flocked to small, efficient cars like the Corolla, Yaris, and Scion xB. Sales of GM pickups and SUVs plummeted, leaving GM with 19.3 percent of the market—less than a single point above Toyota. And GM recently announced it will close four plants and curtail production of light trucks by about 40 percent. Those developments could reorder the U.S. auto industry. Some possible scenarios:

Toyota bounces GM. Toyota's sales have actually declined by 3.5 percent so far in 2007—but that's a strong performance compared with GM's 16 percent decline, which is why Toyota's market share is rising sharply. In May alone, the sales gap was much bigger: GM's sales plunged by 28 percent, compared with a mere 4.3 percent drop for Toyota. Like GM, Toyota is suffering from a severe drop in sales of big vehicles like the Tundra pickup and the 4Runner SUV. But GM is far more dependent on big vehicles, and Toyota has a much stronger lineup of small cars and crossovers.

If the pronounced shift in buying patterns continues, Toyota's market share could eclipse GM's on a monthly basis through the summer or fall. But GM will probably retain more market share for '08 overall, given that it started the year much stronger than it is now. As for 2009—that could be a close race.

GM rebounds. May was a wild month for car sales, with several developments that stunned analysts. Sales of big pickup trucks, for instance, fell below 10 percent of the total for the first time in decades. Compact cars, which usually represent about 15 percent of the market, rose to more than 20 percent. And sales of large vehicles fell by a staggering 36 percent. "We rarely see swings like that," says Tom Libby of J.D. Power. "The question is whether May was the beginning of a trend or an aberration."

Libby tends to think it was an aberration, since research suggests gas prices would have to stay near $4 per gallon for a year before such abrupt changes in buying habits become permanent. So far, they've been near that level only for a couple of months. If Libby's right, car sales over the summer won't be weighted so heavily against larger vehicles, which would pad GM's market share. But others see it differently—most notably, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who said in May that rising gas prices and changes in the U.S. car market are "more structural than cyclical."

Full article at link.

[Perian]

Also: By January, Honda will be capable of producing 12,700 Civics a week in North America.

Went shopping for a new Suburban this weekend. 8K off sticker without even asking. Dealer would not take my Yukon XL as a trade for a new vehicle, but would consider it if we bought used.

[DuallyMan]

Playa,

End of the world! GM gonna be the dumbest company ever. For God's sake, everyone is making money in the auto industry except the Big 3.

[GMC-70]

So whats the best thing to do when the country is in recession---buy more foreign goods of course!

[jkennedy293]

GM has shown a consistent improvement in retail car sales this year. Sure Toyota may be #1 in 2008, but I think GM will rebound in the '09 calendar year and will start showing an improvement in sales.

[Ambalanche]

GM needs to start advertising heavily that the Cobalt has 36 mpg other than just that ad that has the gas pump giving it a flat tire. Blare it out loud!!

[likearock00]

Biggest reason for this- fuel prices. Toyota and the other foreign cars are PERCEIVED to have better, more fuel effiecient vehicles than the domestics. Until this perception changes, the Big 3 will continue to hurt.

[abcd12]

How is this unthinkable. GM decided to build trucks and suvs and make fun of hybrids. well this is what happens when you push ahead gmt900 and lamb. program and then push back delta two, eppII, zeta and hybrids. Still no prius from gm. Still no small car that can go against fit and civic and prius. GM still can not match honda and toyota quality. So how is this unthinkable. it is only unthinkable to rednecks that run that company.

[Chaz_23]

Man, the hysteria. What's with all the American sheep rushing to Toyoduh dealers, as if no else sells fuel efficient cars.

But I would recommend that GM dealers for once put their cars up front in the lot and trucks and SUVs in the back. Up till know if you drove by GM dealers all you would see is giant SUVS in lots and somewhere waaay back a few cars. Yes we know dealers want to sell expensive SUVs. But at least let the legions of customer know that you do have midsize and small cars avaialable as well.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by abcd12

How is this unthinkable. GM decided to build trucks and suvs and make fun of hybrids. well this is what happens when you push ahead gmt900 and lamb. program and then push back delta two, eppII, zeta and hybrids. Still no prius from gm. Still no small car that can go against fit and civic and prius. GM still can not match honda and toyota quality. So how is this unthinkable. it is only unthinkable to rednecks that run that company.

lame coment

[abcd12]

Originally Posted by Chaz_23

Man, the hysteria. What's with all the American sheep rushing to Toyoduh dealers, as if no else sells fuel efficient cars.

But I would recommend that GM dealers for once put their cars up front in the lot and trucks and SUVs in the back. Up till know if you drove by GM dealers all you would see is giant SUVS in lots and somewhere waaay back a few cars. Yes we know dealers want to sell expensive SUVs. But at least let the legions of customer know that you do have midsize and small cars avaialable as well.

Its not hysteria. Toyota and honda produce high quality cars with good resale value. and good fuel economy. Compare cobalt auto. with corola and civic auto or fit and yaris to aveo. Compare something from gm with prius? Why would people trade their accord for malibu that gets 1 mpg better when they were so happy with their accords for long time while so many people have not been happy with gm cars. Ask your self that question.

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by likearock00

Biggest reason for this- fuel prices. Toyota and the other foreign cars are PERCEIVED to have better, more fuel effiecient vehicles than the domestics. Until this perception changes, the Big 3 will continue to hurt.

Please correct my PERCEPTION... (Data from Cars.com)

Best 2008 Model MPG Ratings

Vehicles are ranked by city mpg, followed by highway mpg and annual fuel cost.

Rank Make and Model City MPG/Hwy. MPG Fuel* Annual Fuel Cost

1. Toyota Prius - 48/45 HEV $911
2. Honda Civic Hybrid - 40/45 HEV $1,000
3. Nissan Altima Hybrid - 35/33 HEV $1,235
4. Ford Escape Hybrid (FWD)
Mazda Tribute Hybrid (FWD)
Mercury Mariner Hybrid (FWD) - 34/30 HEV $1,310
5. Toyota Camry Hybrid - 33/34 HEV $1,235
6. Toyota Yaris (manual) - 29/36 R $1,310
7. Toyota Yaris (auto) - 29/35 R $1,357
8. Ford Escape Hybrid (4WD)
Mazda Tribute Hybrid (AWD)
Mercury Mariner Hybrid (4WD) - 29/27 HEV $1,499
9. Toyota Corolla (manual) - 28/37 R $1,357
10. Honda Fit (manual) 28/34 R $1,357

Corporate Average Fuel Economy

Based on NHTSA's preliminary data, here's where automakers stood for 2007:

Rank Make CAFE Rating
1. Honda 33.7
2. Nissan 33.4
3. Toyota 31.7
4. GM 29.6
5. Ford 28.8
6. DaimlerChrysler 28.6

[DU Biggs]

Originally Posted by DuallyMan

Playa,

End of the world! GM gonna be the dumbest company ever. For God's sake, everyone is making money in the auto industry except the Big 3.

I hope you aren't really this ignorant in real life.

[abcd12]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

lame coment

Lame coment because its the truth and it is hard for you to hear that.

[GMC-70]

Originally Posted by abcd12

How is this unthinkable. GM decided to build trucks and suvs and make fun of hybrids. well this is what happens when you push ahead gmt900 and lamb. program and then push back delta two, eppII, zeta and hybrids. Still no prius from gm. Still no small car that can go against fit and civic and prius. GM still can not match honda and toyota quality. So how is this unthinkable. it is only unthinkable to rednecks that run that company.

I wonder who this could be