Toyota, Starting the Year Right

Anthony Fontanelle
February 7, 2007

Japanese car manufacturers, most prominently Toyota, has almost taken over of the US market. The car manufacturer is now poised to take the place of Ford Motor Company as the country’s largest manufacturer of cars. Helped by a loyal buyer base and the positive acceptance of the American public of the Toyota Prius, the company has increased its sales not only in its Toyota division but also in its luxury division Lexus. Both divisions have just posted their sales figures for last month and both show an increase in the number of units sold.

The Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. has improved its sales by 5.1 percent which better than January of last year. Last month’s sales of 175,850 units marks their best ever January sales performance.

The Toyota division posted their record breaking January sales 153,732 which translate to a 4.7 percent increase over last year’s number of units sold. The luxury division of Toyota, which is Lexus also boasts of strong numbers, is also having their best ever January with 22,118 vehicles sold which is an increase of 8 percent compared to last year.

In the passenger car segment, the company’s best-seller is the Toyota Camry with 31,462 units sold against last year’s 27,440 and this is an increase of 10.1 percent while 2,081 units of its hybrid version were sold last month. While their hybrid electric car that has set a new trend in the car industry, the Toyota Prius also reported its best January sales of 8,299 units sold - an increase of 4.1 percent over last year’s sales figures.

Sales of light trucks are also up by 1.6 percent with another record-breaking January sales figure of 67,050 units. The strong sales number is led by the compact sport utility vehicle that is the Toyota RAV 4 which shows that the majority of the public is not turning their backs on the sports utility vehicle market. The Toyota RAV 4 has compiled a sales record of 11,925 units sold which gives it its best ever January in terms of sales. Other noteworthy vehicles that racked up strong number of units sold are the Toyota Highlander and its hybrid version which posted a combined sales figure of 10,322 units for the month of January and this is a 13.3 percent improvement over last year’s number of units sold.

The luxury division of Toyota also posted strong numbers for January of this year with 13,574 units sold which is an 18.7 percent improvement over last year’s sales figures for January. The Lexus ES 350 luxury sedan has the largest number of units sold at 5,320 units, but the all-new Lexus LS 460 bested its predecessor, the LS 430 with an increase in sales of a whooping 142.5 percent.

The upward surge of Toyota in terms of sales and seems to be taking the Japan-based company to the top of the leader board in the US market following decrease in the sales figures of both General Motors and Ford Motor Company. Toyota indeed looks all poised to wrestle the second spot from Ford and closing the gap between them and General Motors at a very exceptional rate. Their acceleration towards the top is very much akin to a Toyota Camry cruising at full speed and the driver’s mind not even considering applying the brakes.

Source: Amazines.com