Toyota set to overtake GM in 2007; Hybrids driving sales volume

[Richard Tafoya]

CNN Money:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/22/news/companies/toyota_gm.reut/?postversion=2006122210

Toyota Motor Corp. expects to produce a record 9.42 million vehicles next year, a 4 percent rise that should take it past General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest auto maker.

...

Soaring fuel prices have battered Detroit's auto heartland, with customers shunning gas-guzzling pickups in favor of cheaper-to-run models from Japanese and South Korean car makers.

...

Through hit products like the Camry, Yaris and Prius hybrid cars, Toyota has overtaken DaimlerChrysler in the United States and is expected to pass Ford next year, market forecaster Edmunds.com says.


Ford has said it expects its U.S. market share to slip to around 14 to 15 percent in 2007, from 16.6 percent in the first 11 months of this year. Toyota had 15.3 percent in the same period.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

I've owned seven Toyatas. You can't kill 'em. Best cars on the market. American auotomakers have to step up or they're going to be left in the dust.

[db44]

This is the third that's been in my family... Second one I've owned if you consider the first was handed over to me by mom, who stopped driving when she had both myself and stepdad willing to drive her.

True, you can't kill them. Even better than Hondas, which is what my stepdad prefers. Although I did like his Preludes.

Still, no car I've had matches the Prius in my mind... And I expect to soon get a new Toyota hybrid, just haven't decided what. If there were power stations here like in Cali, I'd get the all-electric RAV-4... Still might as a 150 mile range should be okay for me on a daily basis.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

My next car will by a Toyota hybrid. I'm sold.

[db44]

They have the Prius, the Camry hybrid and Highlander hybrid. The Prius has so many cool little gadgets that I don't know if they come with the other models. If they made a RAV-4 or a small SUV hybrid, I might get that, but I don't want a highlander. Camry seems pretty good though, decent milage in a decent-sized car. The first generation Prius, like mine is a little small but not bad. The newer ones are close to mid-sized.

[tiger_rascal]

My brother-in-law killed a Toyota, but it was an older model pick-up truck, it probably had it comin'.

Then again, he killed just about every vehicle he owned, except for those darned Subarus. Im sure the Subaru will have its end eventually.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

I own a Subaru now. It's the first non-Toyota I've owned. I bought it because I live in the sticks and I wanted a small SUV with AWD and good gas mileage. It has a great engine and I do love the AWD, but the interior, the paint and extra goodies don't measure up to my Toyotas.

[Regis Philbin]

The American auto companies are saddled with a bunch of ridiculous union contracts that the foreigners don't have. The "Big 3" are still paying workers they layed off years ago---full salary and benefits.

[Richard Tafoya]

Toyota produces a large share of their American-sold cars at American facilities, and interestingly, one reason they are thriving without a UAW presence in most of their plants is that their own pay and benefits packages are already about as good as what the UAW would hope to negotiate.

From NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5062797

Renee Brown works assembling the Camry -- the nation's best-selling car. She puts in seat belts and cup holders at Toyota's plant in Kentucky horse country.

...

Brown previously worked as an assistant manager at Dairy Queen, where she made $20,000 annually. Six years ago, she got a job at Toyota.

Now, Brown makes $70,000 a year -- more than twice the average manufacturing wage in the area.

...

But Brown says that Toyota's wages are so close to the union's, she doesn't see the advantage.


Edmunds.com weighs in:

Domestics Lose Market Share — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors continue to feel the heat of import automakers, particularly Toyota. For example:

* Domestic manufacturers' market share percentage dropped from 57.0% in 2005 to 54.6% in 2005. Import market share percentage increased from 43.0% in 2005 to 45.4%.
* All three domestic manufacturers experienced a loss of market share in 2006: Chrysler lost 5.1%; Ford declined 5.4%; and General Motors fell 6.0%.
* In 2006, Honda and Toyota achieved market share gains of 5.1% and 15.8%, respectively. Toyota sales now routinely outpace Chrysler, and for two months in 2006 Toyota sold more vehicles (including Lexus and Scion models) than the traditional number two U.S. automaker, Ford Motor Company.