I almost feel like ToMoCo's the Juggernaut, bitch. Seriously — number one super best automaker from the land of the rising sun's got like a destiny to just roll on into the US, turning everything into vanilla. With 20%-plus increases in passenger car sales coming out of both the Toyota and Lexus brands — the automaker with 'merican-claiming ads continues to suck up more converts to the Toyota Way. But it would appear the big gains aren't going to be coming from ToMoCo car divisions. Instead, the boost seems to be coming from the 116.3% increase in sales of the not-so-fuel-efficient RAV4, bringing SUV sales up 32.5% year-to-year. But hey, at least they've now adopted the convention of a sales call — unfortunately they've done kind of a piss-poor job at providing the requisite hour between conference calls as is normally the case, causing a bit of a scheduling conflict with another automaker. But hey, the other guy's the Chrysler Group — so whatevs, ToMoCo's already laid waste to them. For the time being, the full press release touting 11 years of dominant sales gains is below the jump — we're going to keep listening to USA Today provide an intellectual reach-around on the Prius, and ToMoCo sales folks explaining how the Prius is only owned by rich folks with high tax burdens.
Toyota Reports 2006 and December Sales 01/03/2007 Torrance, CA
January 3, 2007 - Torrance, CA - With eleven consecutive years of record-breaking sales, Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported total best-ever year-end sales of 2,542,524 vehicles, up 12.9 percent over 2005.
"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," said TMS Executive Vice President Jim Lentz.
Camry became the best-selling car in America for the fifth consecutive year and the ninth time in the past decade. Lexus retained its crown as the best-selling luxury brand in America for the seventh consecutive year, selling a total of 322,434 units in 2006, up 6.8 percent over 2005. With overall sales of 173,034, Scion was a significant contributor to the record sales year.
TMS reported best-ever overall sales month results of 228,322, an increase of 16.6 percent over the same period last year.
Toyota Division
Toyota Division recorded best-ever year-end sales of 2,220,090 vehicles, up 13.8 percent. Toyota Division passenger cars recorded best-ever year-end sales of 1,275,119, up 12.4 percent over last year. Passenger car sales were led by Camry, which posted year-end sales of 448,445, an increase of 4.2 percent. Corolla posted year-end sales of 387,388, an increase of 13.9 percent. The all-new Yaris subcompact, which went on sale in March, posted year-end sales totaling 70,308. The Prius gas-electric hybrid mid-size sedan posted best-ever December sales of 9,291, an increase of 6.9 percent over the year-ago month. Year-end Prius sales reached 106,971 units.Toyota Division recorded all-time best-ever year-end light truck sales of 944,971, an increase of 15.7 percent. Toyota Division light trucks also reported all-time best-ever December sales of 88,370, up 15.9 percent over the same period last year. Light truck sales were led by Sienna with December sales of 16,090, up 10.5 percent over the same period last year. The RAV4 compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) reported year-end sales of 152,047, up 116.3 percent over the same period last year. The all-new FJ Cruiser, which went on sale in March, reported year-end sales of 56,225 units. The Highlander Hybrid gas-electric mid-size SUV reported sales of 2,354 in December. Highlander and Highlander Hybrid posted combined December sales of 11,700, up 7.4 percent over the same period last year.
Contributing to the light-truck sales record was the Tacoma pickup truck with December sales of 15,857, up 7.3 percent. Year-end Tacoma sales were 178,351, up 6 percent over 2005.
Scion reported December sales of 10,326 units. The Scion xB urban utility vehicle recorded December sales of 3,330 units with year-end sales totaling 61,306, an increase of 13.8 percent over 2005. The tC sports coupe reported December sales of 4,996 units with year-end sales reaching 79,125 units, an increase of 6.7 percent over 2005.
Lexus Division
Lexus reported best-ever total year-end sales of 322,434, up 6.8 percent over last year, and all-time best-ever overall sales month of 37,235 units, up 9.9 percent over the year-ago month. It was the second consecutive year Lexus posted sales above 300,000 units.Sales of Lexus passenger cars achieved best-ever year-end results of 183,037 units, an increase of 21.4 percent. Lexus passenger car sales reported best-ever overall sales month results of 20,913 units, an increase of 21.6 percent over the year-ago month. For the month, passenger car sales were led by the ES 350 luxury sedan with best-ever December sales of 8,736 units, up 34 percent. The ES 350 luxury sedan reported best-ever year-end sales of 75,987 units, up 12.8 percent. The IS 250 and IS 350 luxury sport sedans recorded combined best-ever December sales of 5,538 units and combined best-ever year-end sales of 54,267 units, an increase of 244.8 percent. The all-new LS 460 premium luxury sedan reported December sales of 3,865, an increase of 73 percent, and year-end sales of 19,546 units.
Lexus Division light trucks reported December sales of 16,322 units and year-end sales of 139,397 units. The RX 350 and RX 400h enjoyed combined best-ever December sales of 12,779 units and year-end sales of 108,348 units. The RX 400h luxury hybrid SUV reported sales of 1,981 units for the month.
TMS calendar-year-to-date hybrid sales totaled 191,742 units. In December, hybrids sales posted 17,883 units.
There were 306 selling days in 2006, as compared to 307 selling days in 2005. There were 26 selling days this month, as compared to 27 selling days last December.
Related:
Toyota Wants To Take It In The Ear Just Like US Automakers; Toyota-Zilla Releases 2007 Global Sales Projection, Lays Waste To GM [internal]