Toyota Sales Tumble 34.4 Percent

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Toyota sold 117,287 vehicles this January, falling 34.4 percent compared to January 2008. Losses were split relatively evenly between the Toyota/Scion division (down 34.9 percent) and Lexus brand (down 30.3 percent). Toyota doesn’t break out Scion brand sales for its press release, but all of its models are down between 41.8 percent (xD) and 59.5 percent (tC). Corolla (down 10.8 percent), Lexus RX (down 7.2 percent) and FJ Cruiser (down 18.7 percent) were the best performers in the ToMoCo lineup. Elswhere, sales drops by model were as bad as 67.2 Percent (Land Cruiser), 61.6 percent (Lexus SC) and 63.6 percent (Lexus GX). Hybrid sales hit 11,876 in January.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Matt51 Matt51 on Feb 03, 2009

    Hyundai offers better value than Toyota or GM, so it is doing better.

  • SkiD666 SkiD666 on Feb 03, 2009

    Matt51: Sorry, Hyundai is 'doing better' because they have replaced GM's and Chrysler's fleet sales. Geo. Levecque: Toyota sales are flat for January in Canada but Honda's sales are down 40%, I wonder who had more cash on the hood?

  • Matt51 Matt51 on Feb 04, 2009

    And how did they win those fleet sales? Best warranty, best value.

  • Raskolnikov Raskolnikov on Feb 04, 2009

    @Matt51 How do they win those fleet sales? If by "best value" you mean "giveaway pricing" then you are correct. In a few years this translates to "ultra crappy resale value" and "total loss of brand equity." We've seen it before.

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