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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.
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People want to buy new cars, but no one will loan them the money. And really, making toxic loans is what got us into this mess, so being more selective about who you’ll give car loans to is simply sound business policy.
Is 10m sales/yr in the U.S. the new paradigm?
Toyota Sales in Canada where up in January mainly Corolla, RAV4 and Matrix all built here in Ontario!as in the Toronto Star Business section Feb.2nd 2009!
@Verbal: GM is down 49% with Chrysler yet to phone it in, so 10m/yr just might be right for the near future.
So when does Toyota Deathwatch start?
BDB:
When they stop building cars people want to own, are forced to deal with suffocating unions and constant mismanagement, and need to mortgage the kitchen sink to keep the lights on.
I’m no huge Toyota fan, but they’re doing fine.
Is 10m sales/yr in the U.S. the new paradigm?
My car is now in its 7th year and works just fine (and it’s a VW Golf, for crying out loud)! So yes, I hope it is the new pradigm.
Expect a rash of management to be fired, layed off or job transfers. I’m sure Toyota is putting the blame totally on us and our fat lazy useless NA workers because these sort of things never happen in Japan. This ranks up there with Toyotas never break down theory, Apple computers never lock up and Walmart/Sams Club tries to stock it’s stores with proudly made in USA products.
Scion is down more than the rest of the Toyota lineup??? That shows an utter failure to invest and manage that brand well, because if anyone is positioned (image, price and size wise) to do decently right now it should be Scion.
My take: they sold uninspired mechanical product with very cool styling (ahem…Corolla who?). They banked on the styling and price to move metal (it did) but have since made no real improvements to the brand, maybe because they thought that Toyota’s quality rep. would be enough to sustain sales (no) without any significant investment. Maybe if they sold a fun to drive base car they would have a sustainable base of repeat customers. I fail to see how Toyota’s boring product fits the brand and it’s customers.
If anyone should be challenging the Honda Fit, it’s Scion, what an utter waste of a great launch.
10M sales isn’t the new paradigm. Sales will rise when consumer confidence does. People aren’t not buying cars because they can’t get financing, they’re most likely not buying cars because they don’t think that they’ll have an income to make the payments. Despite what you hear, if you want to buy a car, there are plenty of ways to get one financed.
You know it’s a tough economy when Camry sales are down 36.8%.
It’s kind of amazing that Hyundai, Kia and Subaru were able to post gains for 01/09 versus 01/08.
Hyundai offers better value than Toyota or GM, so it is doing better.
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?
And how did they win those fleet sales? Best warranty, best value.
@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.