June 11, 2008
Even as car buyers stampede for vehicles with better fuel mileage, there are fewer hybrids, the gas-stingiest, to go around, according to USA Today.
While sales of conventional small cars soared last month, sales of the most popular gas-electric hybrids were flat or down because dealers had fewer left. There was plenty of demand, but hybrid assembly plants are running as fast as they can, and some are short of components, particularly batteries.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 9:39 AM | Permalink
May 12, 2008
TOKYO — A senior Toyota executive said Monday that plans for a new auto assembly plant in Mississippi are being delayed by worries about slumping U.S. auto sales and a broader U.S. economic slowdown, according to USA Today.
The assembly plant being built in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, Miss., was to be up and running by late 2009 or early 2010, said Toyota Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita.
That has now been pushed back to mid-2010 after Toyota reviewed the plans and considered signs of a slowdown in the U.S. market, Kinoshita told a small group of reporters at a Tokyo hotel.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:36 AM | Permalink
May 8, 2008
Reflecting the dismal state of the current auto market, Toyota is projecting its sales will be down 27 percent this year, according to the Associated Press.
That’s very sobering news for the auto industry.
As Detroit’s Big Three have struggled for years to retain market share, the Asian manufacturers – including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru – have been growing in reputation and sales.
Apart from being lumbered with millions and millions of dollars in healthcare and pension liabilities, the Big Three seemed incapable of coming up with designs that either excited or provided assurance of reliability.
Toyota and Honda in particular have been brilliant in building a franchise that now rests on very solid reputations for reliability which is, not surprisingly, what the vast majority of people want.
Now Toyota, which has been recently tussling with General Motors over who is the king of the castle in terms of sales, is predicting a serious downturn in sales and sees overall U.S. auto sales at about 14.7 million vehicles this year.
That’s way down from recent years and the company cited the faltering U.S. economy, high energy costs, a flat domestic market and the weak dollar for its woes.
Toyota’s announcement is very sobering given that it seems ideally placed with its fuel efficient Corolla and Prius hybrid in a world of soaring gas prices.
Certainly the company put on a brave face.
"We are facing a severe business environment," President Katsuaki Watanabe was quoted as saying. "Toyota considers this headwind as a valuable opportunity to turn it into a more flexible and stronger company."
Given that this is a superbly well run company, it is likely to emerge stronger and better positioned for the brave new world we are entering as developing economies start to roll – including the mega-ones in China and India – oil prices soar, misguided adventures such as George Bush’s War in Iraq keep Mideast politics raw and the global environment changes before our eyes.
But for the short term, the news is just more evidence of the big downturn in the U.S./world economy and right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:07 AM | Permalink
May 7, 2008
TOKYO -- Toyota is raising its prices on some U.S. models later this month amid increased worries about its profit growth in the American market.
The price increases, which will start in the middle of May, include a hike of $200 on the 2008 Yaris sedan, boosting the cost of the base model to $12,425, with higher prices for models with extra features.
The 2009 Camry will go up $200, to $18,920 for a model without any extras, the automaker's U.S. unit said in a statement released Friday.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:59 AM | Permalink
May 1, 2008
DETROIT -- Ford's U.S. sales dropped 12 percent but Toyota's sales edged up 3 percent in April as high gas prices accelerated consumers' rush away from trucks and sport utility vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
A downward pattern was expected throughout the industry as gas prices rose to record highs. Other automakers were scheduled to report their monthly sales later today.
Ford said its SUV sales were down 36 percent in April compared with the same month last year. Car sales were down only 1 percent, buoyed by sales of the Ford Focus small car, which saw a 44 percent jump in sales.
Toyota said its car sales rose 12 percent, largely on the strength of the subcompact Yaris, which saw sales rise 46 percent and the hybrid Prius, which was up 54 percent. Toyota's truck and SUV sales dropped 8 percent.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:43 PM | Permalink
April 23, 2008
DETROIT -- Toyota has taken the global automotive sales lead from General Motors, selling 2.41 million vehicles to GM's 2.25 million over the first three months of the year, according to the Associated Press.
GM said Wednesday its first-quarter sales dropped across the globe by less than 1 percent, but Toyota said its sales were up 2.7 percent during the January-March period.
GM barely won the global sales race with Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. last year. But Toyota overtook General Motors Corp. as the world's top automaker as measured by global vehicle production in 2007.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:13 AM | Permalink
April 1, 2008
DETROIT -- Ford's U.S. sales dropped 14 percent, Toyota's fell 10 percent and Honda's slipped 3 percent in March as demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles plummeted amid high gas prices and a slowdown in home construction, according to the Associated Press.
Consumers' worries about the economy were expected to make March one of the worst months for automakers since 2005, when a wave of summer discounts led to a huge drop in fall sales. Automakers reported sales Tuesday.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:28 PM | Permalink
February 5, 2008
TOKYO -- Toyota's profit for the October-December quarter rose 7.5 percent from the previous year as booming sales in China, Africa and South America offset declining U.S. sales and a stronger yen, according to the Associated Press.
The Japanese automaker - in a neck-and-neck race against General Motors Corp. for the top spot in global vehicle sales - sold 2.281 million vehicles in the fiscal third quarter, up 5.8 percent from the same period a year ago, it said Tuesday.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:23 AM | Permalink
February 1, 2008
Automakers report their U.S. sales for January today amid a continuing economic slowdown. But new information about last year's showroom sales already reveals who has momentum in the struggling market, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Ford was the biggest loser in U.S. retail sales last year, dropping nearly a full percentage point of retail market share, according to the latest retail sales estimates provided exclusively to the Free Press by the Power Information Network.
In all, Ford's share dropped from 15.1% in 2006 to 14.2% last year, a decline that represents about half the production for an assembly factory.
Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda picked up most of Ford's decline in the U.S. market. And General Motors has stabilized its retail share, with about 22% of the U.S. market.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:18 AM | Permalink
January 24, 2008
General Motors and Toyota are in a neck-and-neck competition when it comes to U.S. customer loyalty, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM had the top loyalty for manufacturers during the 2007 model year, while Toyota was tops for brand loyalty, according to the 12th annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:42 AM | Permalink
January 23, 2008
DETROIT -- General Motors said Wednesday it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide last year, up 3 percent from 2006 but putting it into a virtual dead heat with fast-rising Toyota for the 2007 global sales crown, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, Toyota reported global sales of 9.37 million vehicles, but the Japanese automaker did not release a number down to the last vehicle sold, leaving the sales race too close to call.
Detroit-based GM has held the title of world's largest automaker for 76 years, but Toyota's strong U.S. growth and GM's U.S. sales decline helped Toyota move closer to the top spot in recent years.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:57 AM | Permalink
January 17, 2008
The chief executive of the Toyota Motor said Monday that he is pushing his company’s engineers to develop a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle with a lithium-ion battery before 2010, raising the stakes in a race with General Motors, according to the New York Times.
The comments by Katsuaki Watanabe came at a briefing here on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, which opened to the press on Sunday.
Mr. Watanabe said he welcomed a competition with G.M., which plans to introduce its own lithium-ion hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt, around 2010.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 12:17 PM | Permalink
DETROIT — Toyota Motor, known for gasoline-electric hybrids such as its Prius, says it's branching into other alternative power plants to stay ahead of rivals, according to USA Today.
It will offer low-pollution diesel engines on the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV, while doing more research on ethanol, President Katsuaki Watanabe said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:52 AM | Permalink
January 10, 2008
TOKYO -- Toyota said Thursday that its global group sales rose 6 percent last year to 9.37 million vehicles, making for a tight race against General Motors, the world's largest automaker, according to the Associated Press.
GM has not released its annual sales tally but earlier estimated 2007 sales would come to 9.3 million vehicles.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:43 AM | Permalink
December 13, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Despite a shaky U.S. economy and the prospects of slower auto sales through the first half of 2008, a top Toyota sales executive said the automaker expects its U.S. sales to grow another 3% next year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales, also said Toyota expects to come close to its goal of selling 200,000 Tundra full-size pickups this year, even though that will require selling almost 23,000 this month.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:32 AM | Permalink
December 3, 2007
DETROIT -- Automakers reported mixed U.S. sales results for November on Monday, with some new or more fuel-efficient models performing well despite consumer malaise over high gas prices and the weak economy, according to the Associated Press.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AUTO_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-03-14-12-56
General Motors, the biggest automaker by U.S. sales, said its sales dropped 11 percent, hurt by falling demand for trucks as well as cuts in sales to rental car fleets. Ford and Toyota both reported flat sales for the month. Nissan's sales rose 6 percent.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:56 PM | Permalink
November 29, 2007
TOKYO -- Toyota began recalling 264,000 luxury passenger vehicles over faulty fuel pipes Thursday, including 49,000 flagship Lexus cars sold overseas, the company said according to the Associated Press.
Included in the recall are Lexus models produced in Japan in 2005 and sold overseas, and Lexus, Mark X, and Crown models sold in Japan, according to Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Yoshie Matsuura.
Faulty fuel pipe design on the recalled models could cause cracks and corrosion and lead to a fuel leak, according to a notice filed with the Transport Ministry.
In the United States, 26,274 Lexus GS300, 5,429 Lexus IS250, and 2,640 Lexus IS350 vehicles are being recalled, Matsuura said. The recalled models were exported from Japan, she said, adding that the same models were also being recalled in Canada, England, and Germany.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:50 AM | Permalink
November 27, 2007
TOKYO -- Japan's top automaker Toyota said Tuesday its global production climbed 14.4 percent in October, moving it closer to overtaking General Motors of the U.S. as the world's biggest automaker, according to the Associated Press.
Four other major Japanese automakers also reported overall production gains for the month.
Toyota said its worldwide production rose to 905,264 vehicles in October, while its domestic output rose 11 percent to 491,902 units.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:14 AM | Permalink
November 21, 2007
LOS ANGELES — Suddenly it seems like Toyota, long the good-news juggernaut that became the envy of other automakers, has lost its Teflon shield, according to USA Today.
Just last week, the automaker's splashy launch of its Sequoia SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show was marred when the general manager of the Toyota brand knocked a camera from the hands of an environmental activist who sneaked into the presentation.
The executive, Bob Carter, says the camera bump was inadvertent. But the incident followed other troubles in recent weeks, including warnings that Toyota's once-vaunted quality rankings are weakening and the defection of three key executives to Detroit automakers.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:43 AM | Permalink
TOKYO — An employee at a California plant run jointly by General Motors and Toyota is accusing her managers of allowing serious defects to go unchecked, including faulty seat belts and braking, and retaliating when she resisted, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month, according to USA Today.
In the case before Alameda County Superior Court in California, Katy Cameron, a certified auditor who has worked for 23 years at New United Motor Manufacturing, says management routinely deleted or downgraded defects from her reports on vehicles since 2005.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that it has raised its 2007 sales projection for China on solid sales of small cars and aims to sell even more vehicles there next year, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota, which appears to be on track to beat General Motors Corp. as the world's top automaker as soon as later this year, raised its sales estimate in China for this year to 480,000 cars from 430,000 due to the popularity of its Vios small car and the newly introduced Camry, Toyota spokesman Naoki Oku said.
The company sold 308,000 cars in China in 2006.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:33 AM | Permalink
November 20, 2007
When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced the latest list of what it considers the safest vehicles last week, there was a surprising newcomer: a pickup truck, according to the New York Times.
This is the first time a pickup has been on the list since the institute began giving out the Top Safety Pick designation two years ago. The institute had not tested pickups for side-impact protection until recently because it said it did not have the time. Now, pickups are undergoing the complete round of tests.
The newcomer is the Toyota Tundra, which beat its domestic competitors from Ford, Nissan and Dodge. The Chevrolet Silverado and a close relative, the GMC Sierra, were not among the vehicles tested.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:14 AM | Permalink
November 14, 2007
DETROIT — Auto dealers nationwide are getting better at serving their customers, collectively scoring at a record level this year in a survey of new car buyers by the J.D. Power and Associates research firm, according to USA Today.
The survey also found that Toyota's Lexus luxury unit led all brands in consumers' satisfaction with their car-buying experience.
Satisfaction with dealers overall was the highest in the 21 years the company has taken the survey. The industry average score was 852 out of a possible 1,000 points, up from last year's 847, showing that dealers are improving the sales process, J.D. Power said.
The survey measures consumer satisfaction with the dealership facility, sales representative, paperwork and finance process, delivery process and vehicle price.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:38 AM | Permalink
November 7, 2007
TOKYO -- Japan's top automaker Toyota said Wednesday its July-September quarter profit rose 11 percent on solid overseas sales and raised its earnings forecast for the full year, according to the Associated Press
Soaring gasoline prices have boosted the appeal of Toyota's hybrid Prius and fuel-efficient models, such as the Camry and Corolla. Although sales were stagnant in Japan, Toyota sales were strong in North America, Europe, Asia and emerging markets.
Toyota's net profit for the fiscal second quarter rose to 450.9 billion yen ($4 billion) from 405.7 billion yen the same period the previous year. Sales increased 11 percent to 6.490 trillion yen ($57 billion), the company said in a statement.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:46 AM | Permalink
November 6, 2007
How quickly things can change, according to thecarconnection.com
Little more than a year ago, the mood was one of gloom and doom at General Motors headquarters, along theDetroit River. Sales and share were plunging, losses were mounting, and its Japanese arch-rival, Toyota, seemed poised to take the lead in global sales.
As 2007 draws to a close, however, GM's sales and share are stabilizing. Its balance sheet is improving. Toyota is suddenly the one in trouble. It lost global sales leadership back to GM during the third quarter, and in the all-important U.S. market, the Japanese maker is suffering from a string of well-publicized quality snafus.
What may matter most, though, is that GM is rolling out an array of new products that are winning raves - and new buyers. The Chevrolet Malibu, in particular, is being hailed by critics as the first GM mid-size sedan in decades to pose a credible threat in a segment long dominated by the Asians.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:00 AM | Permalink
November 5, 2007
DETROIT — It might seem odd to suggest that a 70-year-old company is going through growing pains, especially one with $183 billion in annual sales.
But 2007 has been a difficult year for Toyota, according to the New York Times.
Its reputation for building high-quality vehicles has been tarnished, most recently by the decision by Consumer Reports to stop automatically giving a “recommended” label to all its cars and trucks.
Toyota’s sales growth, which has been in the double-digit range in recent years, has slowed more in the United States than the company expected, causing it to lose its grip on the biggest-automaker title it took from General Motors last spring.
And it has seen some of its most talented American executives return to Detroit, notably James Press, who left the company’s highest-ranking job in North America to join Chrysler.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:01 AM | Permalink
November 1, 2007
LAS VEGAS — The world's all-time best-selling car is going high-tech, according to USA Today.
Toyota says the all-new Corolla compact will become the smallest non-luxury car with XM satellite navigation for real-time traffic information when it goes on sale in February. Until now, the feature in Toyotas has only shown up in the Lexus division.
The 2009 Corolla and its sister, the five-door Matrix hatchback, sport a slightly edgier look. Corolla is a couple of inches wider, an inch lower and has available 17-inch alloy wheels, up from 16 inches on the previous version.
"It gives it more of a European flavor," says Tim Morrison, corporate marketing manager for Toyota who unveiled the two models here at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show, the industry's premier aftermarket products exhibition.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:31 AM | Permalink
October 29, 2007
Check out this fasincating Associated Press interview with Takeshi Uchiyamada, the Toyota engineer who masterminded the iconic Prius under tremendous pressure from management to "come up with the 21st century car, the vehicle that would hands-down beat the competition in mileage and environmental friendliness."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:01 PM | Permalink
Here are the business precepts developed by Sakichi Toyoda, an inventor who founded the Toyota Motor Sales Company and whose son Kiichiro got the company into the automobile business:
1. Be contributive to the development and welfare of the country by working together, regardless of position, in faithfully fulfilling your duties.
2. Be at the vanguard of the times through endless creativity, inquisitiveness and the pursuit of improvement.
3. Be practical and avoid frivolity.
4. Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm, homelike atmosphere.
5. Be reverent, and show gratitude for things great and small in thought and deed.
Toyota's current guiding principles, which were established in 1990 and revised in 1997, retain the flavor of the original precepts. Here they are as listed on its Web site:
1. Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair corporate activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world.
2. Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in the communities.
3. Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities.
4. Create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide.
5. Foster a corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management.
6. Pursue growth in harmony with the global community through innovative management.
7. Work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:51 AM | Permalink
October 26, 2007
DETROIT —The magazine Consumer Reports says that “bug-ridden redesigns” caused Toyota Motor of Japan to drop unexpectedly to third, from first, in its annual vehicle reliability rankings released on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
Consumer Reports removed high-end versions of three Toyota models — the Camry and Lexus GS sedans and the Tundra pickup truck — from its list of recommended vehicles and said it would stop recommending new or redesigned Toyota vehicles without data showing that past years’ versions were reliable.
It is the first time since the current format of the ratings began in 1996 that a version of the Camry, which is the best-selling car in the United States, has not been recommended
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:06 AM | Permalink
October 4, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s environmental image has been hit by blowback from the automaker's call to side with Detroit's automakers against tougher fuel economy standards in Congress, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said Tuesday it had forwarded more than 8,100 messages from backers to Toyota criticizing its stance in the fuel economy debate. Toyota and Detroit automakers oppose a Senate bill setting a 35 mile-per-gallon standard by 2020, favoring an easier standard proposed in the House.
While Toyota's 46 m.p.g. Prius hybrid has become a top seller and given the automaker a green cachet among car buyers, it maintains the Senate bill is too tough. The House bill would set standards of 32 to 35 m.p.g. by 2022, with clauses that would make it easier for automakers to hit the target.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:56 AM | Permalink
OYAMA, Japan -- Toyota chose a swerving Formula One racing course to show its new luxury Lexus sportscar Thursday, to make sure reporters got the message the new IS F model is about revved up engine muscle and the thrill of nimble handling, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota Motor Corp. is hoping to sell 7,000 Lexus IS F cars globally next year, about 5,000 or 6,000 in the U.S., 500 in Japan and the rest in Europe.
The $67,000 sportscar, which can hit speeds of 186 mph, rolls out Dec. 25 in Japan, and in February or March in the U.S., Toyota executive Takeshi Yoshida said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:39 AM | Permalink
October 3, 2007
Despite a difficult overall market, General Motors and Ford found a receptive audience for new and redesigned vehicles in September, giving hope that their evolving lineups could win back U.S. customers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM reported Tuesday U.S. sales in September of 334,974, up 0.3% from the same month last year. Sales of the redesigned Cadillac CTS were up 66.8% to 6,416.
Ford's U.S. sales, hurt by slumping truck figures, dropped 20.4% to 189,037. But a redesigned Escape was a bright spot with sales increasing 10.3% to 11,132.
GM and Ford were not the only automakers helped by new products. Sales for Honda Motor Co., which launched a redesigned Accord in September, were up 9.4% to 127,000.
Nissan was up 6.7% to 94,269 thanks largely to the Altima, redesigned in late 2006. A new coupe version was added this year.
Toyota's U.S. sales fell 4.4% in September to 213,043 vehicles, marking the third straight month of declines.
Chrysler LLC's sales were down 5.4% to 159,799. The Auburn Hills automaker emphasized that Jeep brand sales were down 10.6% to 37,460 in September because of a planned fleet reduction.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:17 AM | Permalink
The pickup wars intensified Tuesday as Toyota announced new cut-rate versions of its full-size Tundra amid flat industrywide September sales in the hotly contested segment, according to USA Today.
The pickup developments were a facet of a September in which General Motors showed a slight sales gain for the second-consecutive month among all its divisions.
By contrast, second-place Toyota saw its sales drop 4% compared with the same month last year, Autodata reported. Ford took the biggest hit with a decline of 20.4% overall, and most painfully, 15% in the most-coveted sales to individual retail customers.
Overall, sales were down 2.9% for the month. After the first three quarters of the year, the industry remains down by almost the same amount it was at this time in 2006. Ford predicts the final tally for the year will make it the worst for automakers since 1998.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:14 AM | Permalink
October 2, 2007
The tentative contract between General Motors and the UAW could quickly wipe out more than half the gap in labor costs between GM and Toyota, pulling Detroit ever closer to its Japanese rivals, according to industry experts cited by the Detroit Free Press.
And the gap should shrink further -- to about 6% by one estimate -- as lower-paid workers replace more-senior union members over time.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:33 AM | Permalink
October 1, 2007
TOKYO — Toyota has unveiled an upgraded fuel-cell vehicle that successfully completed a test run, proving its ability to run a longer distance than its existing model, a move to take a lead in the future power-train technology race, according to the USA Today.
The latest model has gone 480 miles on a single fueling, more than double the mileage achieved by Toyota's existing model, the company said in a statement.
Toyota has been in a race with global automakers, including General Motors, to develop non-gas-emission vehicles. A major challenge in developing fuel-cell vehicles is their limited driving distance .
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:47 AM | Permalink
September 13, 2007
While Daimler continues to plug money into the never-profitable smart project, its very dogged determination has attracted at least two wannabes to the Frankfurt auto show this year, according to thecarconnection.com.
Volkswagen's UP! Concept is one, and Toyota 's IQ city car is the other.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:21 AM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
Toyota said it might need more production capacity in China to meet demand as sales there rise at about nine times the pace of those in the United States, according to a business brief in the New York Times.
“We are looking at the possibility of a new plant,” an executive vice president, Mitsuo Kinoshita, said at an investor conference in New York, without elaborating. Toyota, based in Toyota City, began building its seventh factory in China in June.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:21 AM | Permalink
September 4, 2007
Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors surprised industry analysts on Tuesday by showing an increase in a declining U.S. auto market, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota's 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford's 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.
But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August compared with the same month last year.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 3:59 PM | Permalink
TOKYO — Toyota plans to sell 10.4 million vehicles globally in 2009, it said Friday, a sales target that would put the Japanese automaker ahead of a record set by world leader General Motors 30 years ago, according to USA Today.
Analysts say Toyota Motor (TM) is likely on track to beat General Motors (GM) as the world's biggest automaker in global vehicle sales and production this year — a title Detroit-based GM has held for 76 years.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:10 AM | Permalink
Joe Gibbs Racing has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday amid several published reports that the team will announce it has signed a deal to field Toyotas in the Nextel Cup series, according to USA Today.
The reports, citing unidentified sources, said JGR will end its 16-year relationship with General Motors and give Toyota its first big-name team in Cup.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:08 AM | Permalink
August 24, 2007
There's a little bit of Toyota inside the Chevrolet HHR, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The HHR's seat frame was designed by the General Motors Corp. rival and produced by one of Toyota Motor Corp.'s suppliers.
This kind of sharing takes to a new level a trend the auto industry has been moving toward for decades. More recently, the Detroit automakers have been picking up speed with it.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:41 AM | Permalink
August 22, 2007
NEW DELHI — Toyota plans to build a new small car and introduce it in India within two years, the company chairman said Wednesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“We are looking at several markets, but the first production will be in India,” Fujio Cho told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of Indian and Japanese business executives. Cho, however, said the company was yet to finalize the type of the small car it plans to make.
Toyota Motor Corp. currently sells three models — Corolla, Camry and Innova — in India’s expensive premium segment.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:03 AM | Permalink
August 9, 2007
Buick tied with Lexus as the highest-ranking brand in a closely watched study of vehicle dependability, marking the first time in 12 years that Lexus has shared the top award, J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday, according to USA Today.
Cadillac, Mercury and Honda rounded out the top five brands in the annual survey, which measures problems experienced by the original owners of three-year-old vehicles. Both Buick and Lexus had 145 problems per 100 vehicles.
The worst-performing brand, Land Rover, had 398 problems. The industry average was 216 problems, down from 227 in last year's survey.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:06 AM | Permalink
August 8, 2007
Toyota expects industrywide U.S. auto sales to slow for the second straight year in 2007, with a rebound beginning in 2008, the company's U.S. sales chief said today, according to Reuters.
The Japanese automaker expects sales of 16.3 million vehicles this year, down 2 percent from 16.6 million in 2006. Sales in 2005 were just short of 17 million vehicles.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:49 AM | Permalink
August 7, 2007
Hybrid vehicles are on track to reach record sales this year, an auto information company said Thursday, according to USA Today.
An estimated 187,000 hybrids were sold in the first six months of 2007, accounting for 2.3% of all new vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Although a sales slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for the year, a 35% increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 hybrids were sold.
The Toyota (TM) Prius continues to be the best-selling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold. J.D. Power said Prius sales also got a boost this year from incentives of up to $2,000 per vehicle, which helped offset a decrease in federal tax breaks for hybrids.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:54 AM | Permalink
July 25, 2007
Toyota already dominates the hybrid market with more than a million of the vehicles sold over the past decade.
Now, it has developed a new type of hybrid that plugs into a home electrical socket for a longer ride as an electric car, raising the stakes in the race to develop more energy efficient, according to USA Today.
Posted by at 12:45 PM | Permalink
July 23, 2007
Carmakers Mazda and Honda and more than half of Toyota's shuttered assembly lines will restart at least some production over the next two days because a key parts supplier damaged by a major earthquake resumed operations Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 12:50 PM | Permalink
July 20, 2007
General Motors pulled ahead of Toyota in global sales for the second quarter of 2007 but remained No. 2 for the first half of the year, according to preliminary figures released by the rival automakers, according to the Associated Press.
GM said Thursday it sold 2.41 million vehicles worldwide in the April-June period, while Toyota said it sold 2.37 million.
Posted by at 9:52 AM | Permalink
July 18, 2007
Japanese automakers, including No. 1 Toyota Motor Corp., called production halts Wednesday at factories in Japan because of quake damage at a major parts supplier, according to the Associted Press.
The temporary closure of auto parts maker Riken Corp.'s plant at Kashiwazaki city, near the epicenter of Monday's magnitude 6.8 quake, has forced Toyota, Nissan Motor Co. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries to scale back production.
Toyota, Japan's top automaker, will stop production lines at a dozen factories centered in central Aichi prefecture Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, said Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco.
Posted by at 10:58 AM | Permalink
July 5, 2007
A riddle: Why has the Toyota Prius enjoyed such success, with sales of more than 400,000 in the United States, when most other hybrid models struggle to find buyers?
One answer may be that buyers of the Prius want everyone to know they are driving a hybrid, according to the New York Times
The Prius, after all, was built from the ground up as a hybrid, and is sold only as a hybrid. By contrast, the main way to tell that a Honda Civic, Ford Escape or Saturn Vue is a hybrid version is a small badge on the trunk or side panel.
Posted by at 2:46 PM | Permalink
General Motors' U.S. sales plunged 21.3% in June and Ford dropped 8.1% while Toyota reported a 10.2% sales surge compared with a year ago, according to USA Today.
But Ford remained the No. 2 U.S. auto seller in June, edging Toyota, according to the June sales totals reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nissan said its U.S. sales rose 22.7% and DaimlerChrysler's sales dropped 1.8%, the automakers said.
GM said it sold 320,668 passenger vehicles
Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink
June 20, 2007
Toyota officials are concerned the company may be expanding its manufacturing operations too quickly in the United States, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by the Detroit Free Press.
The report says some board members believe Toyota needs to slow the construction of new plants in the United States in the face of difficult market conditions, rising costs and quality issues.
Toyota, which has 13 plants in North America, has been rapidly expanding in recent years with U.S. sales increasing at double-digit rates. Toyota opened a truck plant last fall in San Antonio and a Camry plant this year in Lafayette, Ind.
Posted by at 11:33 AM | Permalink
