2006 Sales: Toyota’s Number Three

Toyota President Jim Lentz 2006

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Toyota finished third in overall sales in the U.S. during 2006, placing ahead of DaimlerChrysler for the first time in history. Toyota is now inching closer to the second spot traditionally held by the Ford Motor Co.

In addition, the Toyota brand is within striking distance of becoming the best-selling automotive brand in the U.S. , close to overtaking both the Ford brand and General Motors’ Chevrolet division, which have traditionally led in sales for most of the past century.

Toyota enjoyed its best year ever in 2006, selling 2,220,090 vehicles, while Ford recaptured brand leadership last year with sales of 2,433,086 units to Chevrolet’s sales of 2,415,428 units.

Ford’s lead is now down basically to the capacity of the Toyota truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, which is producing the new 2007 Tundra.

December frost

Both GM and Ford reported that their U.S. sales fell 13 percent in December on lower demand for pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, while Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales increased 12 percent in the month.

Overall, U.S. sales of cars and light trucks fell 3.6 percent last month to 1.43 million, from 1.48 million units a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. Full-year sales dropped 2.6 percent to 16.56 million from 16.99 million, for the lowest total since 1998. Most of the decline was concentrated at GM and Ford.

Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor sales executive vice president, said Toyota benefited from sales of several new models as well as the continuing popularity of its more fuel-efficient models. Sales of Toyota passenger cars increased 13 percent and its truck sales were up 12 percent, Lentz said during a conference call.

In December, Toyota was aided by a 19-percent increase for the Camry, the best-selling car in the U.S. for the fifth year in a row. Sales also rose 16 percent for the Corolla small car, Lentz said. Toyota wound up boosting its U.S. market share to 15.4 percent last year from 13.3 percent a year earlier,

DaimlerChrysler's full-year sales fell 5.5 percent to 2.39 million. Chrysler's declined 7 percent to 2.14 million, while Mercedes gained 11 percent to 248,080, which wasn’t enough to hold off the charge by Toyota. In December DaimlerChrysler said its total sales fell to 218,530 from 220,641, with a one-percent gain at Chrysler and a 9.9-percent drop at Mercedes-Benz.

The drop in December sales left GM with its lowest annual total sales since 1970, when its production was crippled by a massive strike by the United Auto Workers. Ford sales declined for the sixth year in a row in 2006.

In response, GM said it was cutting its North American production in the first quarter by 20,000 vehicles, or 1.8 percent.

George Pipas, Ford's sales analyst, said in a conference call that the automaker expects to reduce sales to rental-car companies and other fleet customers in 2007 by 20 percent, and the company’s market share is expected to fall again this year.

Honda reported that its sales dropped slightly in December, but the company's full-year sales in the U.S. rose 3.2 percent to 1.51 million, marking its 13th straight annual gain.

Nissan reported its sales increased slightly in December but overall its sales dropped 5.3 percent in 2006. It was the company's first annual decline in the U.S.in five years.

Subaru, however, reported its sales topped 200,000 units and Mitsubishi also reported a slight gain. Hyundai and Kia reported sales records for 2006.

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