Toyota overtakes GM in Jan-June global sales

Way to Toyota/GM, nice competition.

Isn't this pretty much the same scenerio as last year when Toyota jumped out to an early lead only to squander it away by years end... giving GM it's 77th consecutive year at #1 !!!

Whatever the case, more trustworthy and reliable websites are reporting that GM sales are actually up globally:

"Outside North America, GM's sales grew 10 percent. The automaker reported exploding sales in emerging markets like Russia, where sales were up 34 percent in the second quarter, and China, where sales rose 14 percent. GM said that despite the tough sales environment in mature markets like the U.S. and Japan, it predicts industrywide global sales will rise 2.5 percent this year to a new record of 72 million vehicles."

Wow ! Imagine that, a new record ! And the future kicker is probably going to be China... where I wouldn't be surprised to see US sales soar while Japanese auto makers (with all that historic baggage) do rather poorly. Odd... Toyota doesn't release regional sales figures so it's hard to say whats really happening where. But they (Toyota) have clearly stated that they expect sales to drop for the first time in nine years for the fiscal year that ends in March 2009. So much for the attempted "happy-go-lucky" spin on this here story from Japantoday !

actually it looks like an AP story that was just picked up by JT, so I have no reason to think that a "more trustworthy" website exists. I do agree that GM has a better global position than Toyota but the perception (and possibly factual) of better reliability plus a more fuel efficient model range have given Toyota a leg up in the US. I don't know how things will fare in China. GM seems to have taken a more "local" approach to China that I think the Chinese will appriciate. In the long run this is where the growth will be. I anticipate that the competition will go on with the lead switching for a few more years at least.

Calicocat... actually the story I'm quoting is off the AP news wire. This other mess was nicked of Kyodo !

Moderator: This story is in fact from the Associated Press.

GM needs to worry about making profits before worrying about how many cars Toyota sells. GM is doing very well in Europe and also China. In Europe GM produces desirable cars under the Opel and Vauxhall brands. In fact Saturn's resurgence in the states is because Saturn is now producing re-branded Opels. Americans have come to expect better levels of fit and finish than what GM traditionally produced. GM is getting with the program and looking towards more fuel efficient cars, I wouldn't count the General out just yet. Of the big 3 GM is probably the most likely candidate to emerge from this round of restructuring as a stronger company. What has hurt GM primarily has been gas prices as they were too reliant on SUVs and large trucks that buyers can no longer afford to feed. So that's my take on GM, Toyota has another problem coming its way, one that GM dealt with in the 80s and that's complacency and deteriorating quality. Toyota has had a series of high profile re-calls as of late (oil sludge, faulty fuel lines etc.) and if they intend to live off their prior reputation for reliability, consumers will eventually call them on it. Toyota needs to re-focus itself on quality before quantity.

"GM needs to worry about making profits before worrying about how many cars Toyota sells."

Hmmm, being at the top as numero uno for 77 years running leads this cowboy to believe GM doesn't really have much to worry about. So what if they slip a quarter or two, hell even lose the coveted number one slot for the year.. you can't win-em-all all the time ! And looking at fuel prices... they may not want to compete to be number one anymore ! That market is about to be obliterated !

GM has many different brands. If we compare the results only by brand, Toyota is the world's largest brand.

GM brands : Buick · Cadillac · Chevrolet · GMC · Holden · Hummer · Opel · Pontiac · Saab · Saturn · Vauxhall etc...

What'd y'all expect? We're in a global recession started by the US subprime mortgages. Of course US auto manufacturers are gonna suck.

http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Top_5_Worlds_Most_Successful_Cars_Ever

This is an interesting and honest post about GM:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070407184852AAn1Qt4

The older versions of GM were great. Whatever happened to them. Nowadays, the GM models stink and you end up not getting what you pay for.

Year upon year, you see five of the top 20 selling cars (Camry, Corolla, Prius, Tundra, and Rav-4) being Toyota, while Honda has 4 of the top 20 ( Accord, Civic, CR-V, and Odyssey). Nissan pulls in a decent one top-20 finisher (Altima).