The Japan Times

http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/ge...20060127a6.htm

Toyota No. 2 in sales for third year

The Toyota Motor Corp. group increased its combined global vehicle sales by 8.0 percent in 2005 to a record high of 8.11 million units, the automaker said Thursday as the industry released its sales, production and export numbers for last year.
The record makes Toyota the world's second-largest automaker after General Motors Corp. for the third year in a row.

Global vehicle production by Toyota and its two affiliates -- Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. -- grew 9.1 percent to a record 8.23 million units in 2005, the company said.

Global output also reached all-time highs for Nissan Motor Co., which produced 3.50 million units, up 9.4 percent, and Honda Motor Co., which rolled out 3.41 million units, up 7.2 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which is under rehabilitation, saw global production fall 3.6 percent to 1.36 million units.

The Japan Times: Jan. 27, 2006

 

Wow, I would have never guessed that Nissan produced as many cars as Honda globally... here in the states you see twice as many Hondas. What about Subaru?

 

Nissan is climbing (via the G35), and Honda is making a come back (via civic)... How does Toyota become #1?
~

 

But this is GLOBAL, not just the US. Europe, Asia... these are big markets, too.

 

10/4...
Subtract my "via g35/civic" statements... the question still remains: How does Toyota become #1?
~ ~

 

when they reintroduce the supra.

 

^^^ can i getta amen on that???

 

No... it's when people realize 80% of the GM vehicles in the US are crap and stop buying them...

I'm talkin to you Pontiac, Chevy, and Saturn!

I just find it amazing that GM has SO MANY vehicle lines and only has #1 by a marginal amount. Meanwhile, Toyota is really only putting out 3 lines of cars.

GM: Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Hummer, Saturn, etc...
Toyota: Scion, Toyota, Lexus ... + some internation ones?

 

Remember too that Toyota's international sales are HUGE!!! This is one of the reasons they are going to become number one soon.

I don't know if GM, or other domestics, necessarily build crappy cars. A lot of domestic cars have drastically improved over time....the only problem is, so have Japanese cars. And if both are improving but were seperated by an initial gap in quality, durability and reliability.....that gap is still there.

 

However, Toyota's quality has been slipping ever so slightly most likely due to its rapid growth. Last year Toyota saw its greatest increase in recalls ever. I'll try and find the stats somewhere. It's still much lower than American companies though, so hopefully this isn't the start of a downward trend.

 

How many workers did Toyota lay off this year? I think GM was around 30,000 or more. It's just a matter of time...

Plus, I take these numbers with a grain of salt. When I worked at a dealership, I saw the Ford dept. stuffing thru some sales at the end of the year that would get rolled back later but they were trying to hit a number to compete with GM...

 

gm and ford will eliminate 30k jobs each, and close 15-17 plants each world wide......as toyota is opening plants, and taking thier market share, GM is already junk status, and ford is right behind, thier projected earnings are 1.00-1.50 a share, in perspective toyota will make about 30-40 per share.........
i just did a paper on GM FORD, and they actually have not learned thier lessons, GM actually is placing thier comback on the new tahoe platform......don they know people are not looking for SUV's? GM and FORD also dont seem to get the clue that hybrid based cars are going to be what solidifies their market share, but nither company have any plans to market a Hybrid other then what they have........pathetic if you ask me, they are playing games with thousands of peoples jobs because they dont listen to the customers wants and needs....

toyota will manufacur over 96 million cars and trucks for the world wide market and have a 12% inventory overstock, where GM will manufacture over 102 million vechicles and have a 30% overstock..........


toyota is really listening to the customers, they have cars that are well built and have great gas milage, and they look good too.....

who the F- buys a malibu maxx?

 

-THE DON

 

When they learn how to build trucks and sports cars as good as the domestics.

 

There is one issue I have with Toyotas: they aren't the most silent of rides
Theres been several Toyotas that I've grown up with (my current tC, Previa, Avalon, and of course the Camry with the addition of countless friends rides along the lines of Toyota/Lexus/Scion) most of which make/made noises (on the interior). Yes, Toyotas are well built cars (which is why I still drive and lovem to this day), however the interior always seem to have minor bugs/defects.
On the same token, I've also grown to love Hondas as well, which is why I'm saying what I'm saying ~ There's a thin line between someone deciding Toyota or Honda, and it could come down to noises while driving that becomes the deciding factor I've also gone through my share of Hondas which didn't have noises like Toytas do, however they do/did have their share of flaws.. We all know the auto industry is a business, however shortcuts aren't always the shortest routes and can infact take even longer. I've always felt Toyotas to be a solid automobile (minus the minor defects), but feel theres always room for improvement.
I'd love to see Toyota @ #1, therefore feel the need to speak my mind out loud.
Hope this helps

 

Rental car companies!!! I always hate it when I rent a car and they give me Taurus, Malibu or Grand AM.

 

They might take a leaf from the Honda and Saturn books and try a little more aggressive quality control! Rattles, bumps and wind noise are not exceptable in today's crowded market.

 

i think the tacoma and tundra are pretty mean....

 

Um, for those of you implying that Honda, rather than Toyota might become #1 in worldwide sales...did you see the production numbers?? Toyota produced 2.4 times as many vehicles last year as Honda. In other words, Honda is not even close to Toyota at the moment in terms of worldwide operations. It would take 15 great years by Honda and 15 awful years by Toyota for Honda to catch up.