Autoblog

Toyota denies rumors of giving aid to GM

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:31:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Hybrid, GM, Toyota, Rumormill

Rumors of a meeting between GM CEO Rick Wagoner and top officials from Toyota in Japan has been denied. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, considering that it's GM's policy not to comment on such matters, but Toyota has no such policy and has also denied that such discussions have or will take place. The Japanese Kyodo News had started the rumors, which specifically suggested that Toyota could offer GM hybrid technology and assistance in the assembly of small cars. That seemed rather odd, especially since GM has its own sophisticated Two-Mode hybrid system that was developed along with Chrysler and BMW. Toyota and GM also already share a factory in California that builds relatively fuel efficient compact cars, so any deal between the two automakers would just be an extension of their current agreements. What's more, General Motors is also in talks with Cerberus to make a major play on Chrysler's automotive operations, so it would seem to be an inopportune time to discuss major deals with other automakers as well.

[Source: Reuters]

Toyota denies rumors of giving aid to GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hanging Chads! Automotive News declares Toyota beat GM in 2007

John Neff — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: GM, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

We'll soon need Florida's State Supreme Court to step in and decide this one, as Automotive News is reversing on its report yesterday that General Motors had outsold Toyota globally in 2007 to declare Toyota the winner today. To be fair, yesterday's report that GM had outsold Toyota was based on a Reuters source who claimed the Japanese automaker had sold 9.366 million vehicles in 2007 to GM's 9,369,524 vehicles. Toyota, however, is not scheduled to reveal the exact number of vehicles it sold worldwide in 2007 until later this month.

Regardless of the exact number of vehicles Toyota says it sold last year, Automotive News is declaring it the World's Largest Automaker in 2007 based on the fact that GM included some 516,435 sales from the Chinese Wuling brand. GM only owns 34 percent of Wuling, the majority of which is owned by SAIC. Normally automakers don't report sales for brands in which they don't own a majority interest (that's why Mazda sales are not reported by Ford), and in this case Automotive News is subtracting Wuling sales from GM's total, which drops it down to 8,885,599 units. Toyota's easily got that beat regardless of the exact figure it eventually reports.

From the cheap seats, we can't tell you how much either automaker really cares if it's crowned the World's Largest Automaker in 2007. Nor can we say whether GM including sales figures for a brand that it technically doesn't own is a deliberate play on their part or something completely innocuous and not worth reading into. We'll leave that up to you.

[Source: Automotive News]

Hanging Chads! Automotive News declares Toyota beat GM in 2007 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

UPDATE: GM sold more in 2007 than Toyota

John Neff — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:56:00 EST

Filed under: GM, Honda, Earnings/Financials

As we reported earlier today, Toyota is not expected to reveal the actual number of vehicles it sold in 2007 until later this month, but a source has told Reuters that the number should be about 9.366 million units worldwide. GM announced earlier today that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles around the world last year, which official makes it the world's best-selling automaker for the 77nd year in a row, though by the slimmest of margins.

We reiterate that owning this title makes little difference to either automaker. GM is in the midst of a turnaround in the U.S. market with sales in its own backyard still yet to rebound while Toyota is gaining marketshare in most regions around the world. Their global sales numbers are bound to cross paths at some point putting Toyota on top, and most analysts expect that to happen in 2008. Even if Toyota does pass GM in global sales for 2008, however, we don't expect it will be able to keep the title for very long before the General snaps it back. GM has a stronger presence in China and is doing very well in emerging markets, while Europeans seem to have taken a liking to the Chevy brand over there. If GM can get its U.S. sales back up, we expect it will remain the world's largest automaker.

[Source: Automotive News]

UPDATE: GM sold more in 2007 than Toyota originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Toyota may have toppled GM in 2007

John Neff — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: GM, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Toyota has revealed that it sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide in 2007, which amounts to a 6% increase. Though General Motors won't release its worldwide sales for 2007 until January 23rd, speculation has already begun that it wasn't able to hold off Toyota's aggressive growth and will cede its title of World's Best-Selling Automaker to the Japanese automaker for the 2007 calendar year. Though the world certainly won't end if this happens, GM has held that title for the last 76 years straight. Analysts predict that GM will report 2007 global sales of around 9.3 million vehicles, so the victor really depends on the margin of error.

Both automakers are downplaying the significance of this moment, which is smart. Each should be focused on improving their businesses, and from our view in the cheap seats, it appears they are. General Motors product portfolio is improving by the day, as evident by the steaming pile of praise heaped upon its two newest U.S. offerings, the 2008 Chevy Malibu and Cadillac CTS. Meanwhile, it's brands are growing in overseas markets like Europe and China. Toyota, meanwhile, just keeps growing... everywhere.

Even if GM gives up the top spot of the podium for 2007, expect 2008 and beyond to be just as heated. Toyota is predicting growth, again, to 9.85 million sales in 2008. While many believe GM sales may slip further in 2008, resurgent sales in the U.S. for its passenger cars could help balance things out. We'll convene here next year and let you know.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Toyota may have toppled GM in 2007 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments