Toyota shows Deroit no mercy
Toyota shows Deroit no mercy
By Bernard Simon in Detroit
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: January 3 2007 21:59 | Last updated: January 4 2007 07:34
Toyota underlined its onslaught on the Detroit motor industry by posting its 11th consecutive year of record sales in the US.
The Japanese automaker’s Camry sedan was the US’s top-selling car in 2006 for the fifth year in a row. Its Lexus brand led the luxury market for the seventh consecutive year.
In contrast to Toyota’s 12.9 per cent sales surge, General Motors sold 8.7 per cent fewer light vehicles in its home market last year than in 2005. Toyota’s worldwide shipments are expected to overtake GM this year.
Toyota shares hit a record high of Y8,140 on Friday morning in Tokyo trading before closing up 1.6 per cent at Y8,090 by midday.
Ford Motor’s US sales slid 7.9 per cent in 2006 but it hung on to its number-two spot. Toyota overtook DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler division as the number-three carmaker in the US in 2006, and is expected to surpass Ford this year.
Both GM and Ford posted sales declines of almost 13 per cent in December. Chrysler reported a 7 per cent drop in US sales last year, in spite of incentives to cut inventories.
Edmunds.com, a pricing service, estimates Chrysler offered incentives valued at an average of $4,416 per vehicle in December, almost 8 per cent higher than a year earlier.
GM on Wednesday announced a further 1.7 per cent cut in first-quarter North American output, equal to 20,000 vehicles, mainly to cut dependence on low-margin sales to the rental industry. Paul Ballew, GM sales analyst, said it had cut sales of daily rental cars by about 100,000 vehicles in recent years on the way to its target of reducing these by “a couple of hundred thousand units”.
A big disappointment at Ford was a 12 per cent drop in demand for the F-Series pick-up truck, the US’s top-selling vehicle.
Ford sales were also pushed down by its decision to stop producing the Taurus, once the US’s best-selling car, and the Freestar minivan.
Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, said Wednesday that his last month’s visit to Toyota was just to show his respect of the Japanese carmaker, and not an effort to bring the companies any closer.
Commenting on the visit, which sparked investor hopes about a potential alliance, Mr Mulally said Toyota was “the finest machine in the world, the finest production system in the world. So we went to study with the master”.
George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, said demand for pick-ups would remain under pressure this year, due to the weakening construction market. But the launch of new GM, Toyota and Ford models might slow the slide.
Mr Ballew described 2006 as “a challenging one [for the industry] that came in a bit below expectations”, with some improvement in recent months.
But Jim Lentz, executive vice-president at Toyota’s US marketing unit, said 2006 was a “respectable year for the industry if you consider the strain of erratic fuel prices and a housing bubble on an industry weaning itself from incentives”.
He cautioned that future growth may be more modest.
Toyota projects a 6 per cent increase in US sales in 2007.
Most analysts forecast a contraction in the overall market.
By Bernard Simon in Detroit
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: January 3 2007 21:59 | Last updated: January 4 2007 07:34
Toyota underlined its onslaught on the Detroit motor industry by posting its 11th consecutive year of record sales in the US.
The Japanese automaker’s Camry sedan was the US’s top-selling car in 2006 for the fifth year in a row. Its Lexus brand led the luxury market for the seventh consecutive year.
In contrast to Toyota’s 12.9 per cent sales surge, General Motors sold 8.7 per cent fewer light vehicles in its home market last year than in 2005. Toyota’s worldwide shipments are expected to overtake GM this year.
Toyota shares hit a record high of Y8,140 on Friday morning in Tokyo trading before closing up 1.6 per cent at Y8,090 by midday.
Ford Motor’s US sales slid 7.9 per cent in 2006 but it hung on to its number-two spot. Toyota overtook DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler division as the number-three carmaker in the US in 2006, and is expected to surpass Ford this year.
Both GM and Ford posted sales declines of almost 13 per cent in December. Chrysler reported a 7 per cent drop in US sales last year, in spite of incentives to cut inventories.
Edmunds.com, a pricing service, estimates Chrysler offered incentives valued at an average of $4,416 per vehicle in December, almost 8 per cent higher than a year earlier.
GM on Wednesday announced a further 1.7 per cent cut in first-quarter North American output, equal to 20,000 vehicles, mainly to cut dependence on low-margin sales to the rental industry. Paul Ballew, GM sales analyst, said it had cut sales of daily rental cars by about 100,000 vehicles in recent years on the way to its target of reducing these by “a couple of hundred thousand units”.
A big disappointment at Ford was a 12 per cent drop in demand for the F-Series pick-up truck, the US’s top-selling vehicle.
Ford sales were also pushed down by its decision to stop producing the Taurus, once the US’s best-selling car, and the Freestar minivan.
Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, said Wednesday that his last month’s visit to Toyota was just to show his respect of the Japanese carmaker, and not an effort to bring the companies any closer.
Commenting on the visit, which sparked investor hopes about a potential alliance, Mr Mulally said Toyota was “the finest machine in the world, the finest production system in the world. So we went to study with the master”.
George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, said demand for pick-ups would remain under pressure this year, due to the weakening construction market. But the launch of new GM, Toyota and Ford models might slow the slide.
Mr Ballew described 2006 as “a challenging one [for the industry] that came in a bit below expectations”, with some improvement in recent months.
But Jim Lentz, executive vice-president at Toyota’s US marketing unit, said 2006 was a “respectable year for the industry if you consider the strain of erratic fuel prices and a housing bubble on an industry weaning itself from incentives”.
He cautioned that future growth may be more modest.
Toyota projects a 6 per cent increase in US sales in 2007.
Most analysts forecast a contraction in the overall market.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 1:53 PM
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