Toyota USA Sales Going To Hell
Toyota may record “a double-digit drop in the automaker’s U.S. sales for February,” says The Nikkei [sub] today. The Nikkei bolsters the assessment with interviews at dealerships in the U.S.A., but knowing the Nikkei, a sales droid in northern California is not their only source.
The Nikkei notes that “Toyota was the only major automaker to suffer a double-digit sales decline in the U.S. last month. Its sales were down 15.8 percent from a year earlier, compared with the 24.4 percent and 14.6 percent growth enjoyed by Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co..”
A continuation of this trend would be extremely dangerous for Toyota. We are comparing with the absolutely worst times of carmageddon, and if you are double digits below carmageddon, you roast in hell.
Edmunds also reckons that Toyota’s U.S. sales will likely decline around 10 percent on the year in February.
Just in case there is the often cited hidden agenda behind the Toyota witchhunt, it backfires. Out of the roughly 1.8m vehicles sold by all Toyota division in the U.S.A. in 2009, 1.1m are made domestically, only 0.6m are imports. (Data as per Automotive News [sub])
Furthermore, “South Korean firm Hyundai Motor Co. appears to be benefiting from Toyota’s recall woes,” says the Nikkei. According to the same Automotive News data, Hyundai imported more cars in 2009 than made domestically. Where did “create more jobs at home” go? Likewise to hell.
Comments
Join the conversation
Toyota hasn't built a fun car since the Supra or even the Celica. Soul less for sure. Bunch of Camry yawn-models and nondescript homogenized me-too mobiles. Sad. I once loved the Toyota line. Sporty, fun and safe. Now nothing makes sense. It's what happens when car execs get comfortable and negligent. Will take a while before they rally. Might want to read up on the Audi issues back in the 80's. Except Audi was a niche line back in the day, while Toyota made their hay in volume. Good luck with all that.
BTW, Toyota should stop with their insipid mea culpa television ads straight away. Have they learned nothing from the complete failure of we screwed up, we are sorry, try us again ads when GM ran them?
As a long time Toyota owner this recall doesn't bother me. I took my wife's 08 Camry SE in for the recall and was treated quite well. If you read the review on TTAC on the Camry SE you will find it is quite different than others. My 08 4Runner SE is basically just a tool that I use for hunting,towing my boat and utility trailer and has been flawless in it's duties,just like the rest of the Toyotas that I have owned or leased for the last 15yrs.
Hell of a deal for buyers. Toyota will fix.