Toyota may miss sales goal this year
Toyota's bet that it could sell more vehicles in 2008 than in 2007 may not have been a wise one. Though Toyota's hybrid models and small cars are selling very well in the U.S., sales of pickups and SUVs have truly tanked, and Toyota had been counting on those sales just as much as its competitors. Of course, the giant automaker from Japan couldn't have known that far in advance just how high gasoline prices would go or the impact that it would have on auto sales and the economy in the United States in general. Booming markets like China have apparently not been able to make up for the shrinking pot in the States.Even with the acknowledgment that meeting its target of selling more than the 2.62 million vehicles the company sold last year in the U.S. would be "difficult," Toyota's place in the automotive landscape is surely envied by the Detroit 3. After all, even with its sales revised downward, Toyota remains profitable, something which cannot be said of the U.S. automakers.
[Source: AP]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
eddie 1:23PM (6/24/2008)
Considering how Toyota must be starting to make boatloads of cash off of hybrids like the TCH (http://autoenergy.blogspot.com/2008/06/toyota-camry-hybrid-vs-chevrolet-tahoe.html) while letting the public and the media market the car for them while General Motors spends bijillions marketing the Tahoe Hybrid at times when people couldn't even get them at dealers and while, regardless of what you think of the 'greenness' of the hybrid philosophy, Toyota prices its two most prominent hybrids in the mainstream, while the CTH is a really expensive truck, stories like this aren't surprising.
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elprogramer 2:26PM (6/24/2008)
What was the point of that? Chevrolet has the hybrid Malibu, which is far closer to the Camry than the Tahoe. In fact, the Tahoe fills a niche and is far more valuable than it's non-hybrid counterpart, whereas arguably the Camry hybrid isn't a justifiable purchase unless you're drive huge distances like an idiot.
dea911 2:47PM (6/24/2008)
really elprogramer? I disagree with you.
1-How is the Tahoe Hybrid a valuable purchase over the regular tahoe when its some 20k more expensive?
2-How is the Camry Hybrid not a 'justifiable purchase' when it costs no more than a comparably equipped Camry yet gets 12 mpg in the city better than a 4 cylinder Camry.
3-If anything, the Malibu Hybrid is not a justifiable purchase as its city mpg only increases by 2mpg over a 4cyl. Malibu. (12 in Camry, 2 in Malibu...hmmm). Not a 'justifiable' increase to me.
eddie 4:17PM (6/24/2008)
the point of the comment isn't displaying preferred automotive choices among enthusiasts or to debate the mathematical justification for either: it's what the company is accomplishing with the vehicles and how they're going about it. Hybrid Camry - success. Hybrid Tahoe? Awfully difficult to gauge. Toyota - success. General Motors - not right now.
Soul Shinobi 1:25PM (6/24/2008)
I think that, despite gas prices, Toyota may have expected to have converts from those looking at domestic trucks and SUVs to their more economical trucks and SUVs, just as has happened with their cars. Instead, it seems that trucks and SUVs just aren't moving off of anyone's lots.
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Frylock350 2:22PM (6/24/2008)
One problem with that expectation, the domestic trucks and SUVs are more efficient.
BlackCanary 2:37PM (6/24/2008)
Yes you are incorrect. Domestic trucks and SUVs are more efficiant than the Toyota trucks and SUVs. Yes there are some exceptions (looking at you H2) but in the volume leaders Tahoe>Sequoa F150>Tundra etc.
Soul Shinobi 4:30PM (6/24/2008)
I thought that maybe I was caught unaware here, but I did a bit of research and I can't find any instance where what you said it true.
I checked the real fuel economy numbers obtained by Consumer Reports, Consumer Guide, and True Delta and the Toyota Tundra is consistently more economical in real life than the F-150, GMC Sierra, Dodge Ram, and Chevy Silverado.
Whose rhetoric have you been swallowing? If you're just looking at EPA numbers or TV commercials then you're sorely out of touch with reality.
mike 1:37PM (6/24/2008)
The haters are about to pop up.
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Tricky dicky 1:38PM (6/24/2008)
Per normal... when toyota has bad news, just make sure and put - but the domestics are worse at the end... lol...
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FT 1:42PM (6/24/2008)
You guys mis-read Toyota's statement. They are still expecting world wide sales to be higher than last year (and they already were for Q1). They will be lower than last year in the US market.
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Someone 1:44PM (6/24/2008)
So when GM says that it could not foresee the price of gas going up this high and is blamed for making excuses, Toyota uses the same excuse and gets away with it?
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Soul Shinobi 1:51PM (6/24/2008)
Toyota's still making a profit. They're saying unpredictable gas prices hurt their truck and SUV sale enough that they don't meet their goal. GM is using it as an excuse for the collapse of their entire being.
PJ 3:30PM (6/24/2008)
If they turn a profit, then at the end of the day, yes... yes they do.
Soul Shinobi 3:52PM (6/24/2008)
Not just that, but Toyota's sales are actually growing compared to last years.
Dad 4:02PM (6/24/2008)
Yes, GM is always to blame :-) and Toyota is never to blame.
GM=BAD
Toyota=good
Never ever let the facts get in the way.
Jvijil 2:12PM (6/24/2008)
hahahahaha this just made my day
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LimeDaiquiri 2:22PM (6/24/2008)
Oh boo-hoo....*Rolls eyes*
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FT 3:09PM (6/24/2008)
Toyota sold about 9.37 million in 07, they forecast they would sell 9.85 million in 08, it looks like they will actually sell about 9.75 million in 08 according to the following article, it doesn't appear they need to make too many excuses:
http://www.autonews.com/article/20080624/ANA02/383614316/1190
TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. warned again on Tuesday that it could fall short of its sales target for the United States, setting the stage for a downward revision of its estimates next month.
Toyota warned earlier this month that it would likely post lower U.S. sales this year, missing its original forecast for a 1 percent rise to 2.64 million vehicles as high gas prices and a sluggish economy cut into demand for trucks.
"We have to say that it will be very difficult to hit that target," Executive Vice President Tokuichi Uranishi said at an annual shareholders' meeting on Tuesday.
Uranishi also said Toyota would review its target in July, according to a company spokesperson.
Kyodo News reported on Tuesday that weak demand in the U.S. would force Toyota to cut its global sales target for 2008 of 9.85 million vehicles by about 100,000 units.
But Uranishi said that Toyota had not given up on its global sales forecast as it banks on strong demand in the Middle East and emerging markets such as China and Russia to make up for any shortfall in the U.S.
Toyota's U.S. sales fell about 5 percent in the first five months of 2008 from a year earlier, as a 16 percent drop in truck sales outweighed increased demand for its smaller, fuel-efficient cars and crossovers.
Reflecting those tough conditions, Toyota said last week that it was further cutting U.S. production of its full-size pickup trucks.
broosewee 3:43PM (6/24/2008)
If I see one more Prius on the road driving like a maniac, I will kick the owner in the nuts for being a tard'.
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