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Toyota Outselling Chevrolet, Closing In On Ford

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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 03:22 AM
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Default Toyota Outselling Chevrolet, Closing In On Ford

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Cars made by Toyota Motor Corp. are outselling those made by Chevrolet this year and are poised to overtake Ford cars in the first quarter next year, USA Today reported Friday.

It would be the first time a foreign automaker could lay claim to the title of best-selling car brand in the U.S. Either Ford Motor Co. or General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet has been the best-selling car brand since 1903. U.S. automakers still dominate the truck market, the newspaper said.

"Within a matter of months, Toyota will consistently be selling more cars in this country than any other brand," predicts Tom Libby, an analyst with J.D. Power, basing that on the brands' sales histories since 1990.

Through November, Toyota sold 774,953 cars to Ford's 801,607 and Chevy's 682, 658.

Ford and Chevy couldn't be reached for comment on the sales numbers, USA Today said. Toyota spokesman Joe Tetherow attributed his brand's success to "core products, not niche products, that appeal to a lot of customers."

Dow Jones Newswires
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 08:20 AM
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I'm not too surprised. Their car department is doing pretty well compare to GM/Ford. GM/Ford has always depended on their fleet sales for car and their SUV/Truck sales. Now, Toyota is starting to eat into their SUV/Truck sales. It'll only get better for Toyota and worse for GM/Ford because Toyota still only have a small market share of the SUV/Truck market. The more they grow, the more GM/Ford will shrink. Consider Nissan is also starting to enter the full size truck market, GM/Ford are being cornered in by the Japanese...
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 10:52 AM
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This does not surprise me with the number of offerings Toyota has...they have something for everyone.
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 05:58 PM
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Honda should (for once) take a lesson from Toyota and Nissan. Keep in mind I'm not advocating for Honda to forget its roots and core offerings, but to survive in this market you have to grow. If Honda had a full size SUV and/or truck it would gain instant market share. Toyota and Ford/GMs lineup are too saturated already.
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 06:20 PM
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Toyota still needs to come out with an MR2 spyder equipped with a 2ZZ-GE.

American companies haven't made something with actual appeal that's not a truck for a long time.
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 06:25 PM
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Originally posted by MrFatBooty
American companies haven't made something with actual appeal that's not a truck for a long time.
For the most part...I actually think that the current Chrysler offerings are pretty nice. But hey that's what you get when Germans run an American company...progress!
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 06:31 PM
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Here is the entire article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...2-toyota_x.htm

Toyota outselling Chevy, closing on Ford
By Earle Eldridge, USA TODAY

Cars made by Toyota are outselling those made by Chevrolet this year and are poised to overtake Ford cars in the first quarter next year.

It would be the first time a foreign automaker could lay claim to the title best-selling car brand in the USA. Either Ford or Chevrolet has been the best-selling car brand since 1903. U.S. automakers still dominate the truck market.

"Within a matter of months, Toyota will consistently be selling more cars in this country than any other brand," predicts Tom Libby, analyst with J.D. Power, basing that on the brands' sales histories since 1990.

Through November, Toyota had sold 774, 953 cars to Ford's 801,607 and Chevy's 682,658.

As sales numbers tighten, consumers might see more deals on cars, especially because Ford and Toyota are two of the most aggressive retailers.

Toyota's threat to the Detroit brands illustrates the continued assault on the U.S. auto market by foreign brands. Unless the trend reverses, it could require General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Group to shut plants and lay off employees.

Some analysts predict that foreign brands will hold 50% of the U.S. auto market within five years. For this year, they had a 38.5% share through November, according to sales tracker Autodata.

"Toyota and Honda have been particularly successful in increasing their market share," says Scott Sprizen, an analyst with Standard and Poor's. Both also have been investing in trucks, particularly sport-utility vehicles, he notes. That takes aim at Detroit's strength.

Honda car sales are closing in on Chevy's, too. They were less than 11,000 apart through November.

Ford and Chevy couldn't be reached for comment on the sales numbers.

Toyota spokesman Joe Tetherow attributed his brand's success to "core products, not niche products, that appeal to a lot of customers."

While Toyota has surpassed Chevy in sales numbers, it has fallen behind the GM brand in a key quality ranking.

In the most recent J.D. Power initial quality survey of new cars, Chevy came in No. 2 behind Honda. Toyota fell to No. 3. The survey measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership.

Tetherow blamed minor trim problems with the redesigned Camry.

Ford still maintains its dominance as the best-selling brand overall, a spot it has held for 16 years. That's largely due to sales of the F-Series pickup, the No. 1-selling vehicle of any type in the country, and the Explorer, the best-selling SUV.

The Ford brand will likely sell 3 million cars and trucks in the USA this year, Toyota 1.5 million.
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Old Dec 13, 2002 | 06:36 PM
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Neon :thumbdown
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Crossfire :yumyum:
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Viper :boink:
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Old Dec 14, 2002 | 12:27 AM
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Toyota keep on growing and it doesn't seem like there's anything that can stop them. They're pretty much on top in the car department. Now they're attacking the American in the truck department. They might be as big as GM and Ford but it seems like they move alot quick. By this, I mean they continue to improve their product according to what people want. The more $$ they get, the more they can dominate.
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Old Dec 14, 2002 | 04:27 AM
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toyota is huge b/c it has a saturated lineup (they can't create any new mass market vehicles)...the most of any import mfgr in the US

Honda on the other hand has several new segments they haven't even touched but still outsells toyota on several models normally (rsx, civic, last years accord, crv, odyssey and now the pilot and mdx are fast approaching its toyota made targets of the highlander and rx300)

honda still has several models they don't offer but they are growing consistently over the years at a faster pace than toyota...the fit is the best selling car in japan (1st to dethrone the corolla in 30 years), honda's european operations have always done poorly but this year they will post its first profit in almost a decade with 3 times more sales than last year...honda stock is a very very attractive purchase at ~$18 (all auto mfgrs are down b/c of the poor big 3 sales)
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