Toyota Overtakes GM in Global Vehicle Sales

[BNaylor]

Clearly, not good news for GM.

Click here

[drunken monkey]

is that "real" sales or sales via US' rather dubious credit situation?

and er.... considering that toyota was making way more money than GM (and pretty much 95% of other car manufacturers out there) a long time ago, this simple fact regarding actual sales figures tell a much bigger picture and it really is a shame.
Part of me can't help but wonder if GM would be better off separated back into it's constituant parts and run (largely) independently.

[sickcallawayc12]

Screw GM.

[00accord44]

GM knew two years ago Toyota would pass them so they expanded production in South America and Europe to keep the title of "world's top automaker". This year they considered opening new production facilities in Dubai to bump production again and keep Toyota at #2 but those plans have yet to materialize and if anybody in Dearborn is smart they won't. Like the monkey said, Toyota passed GM on the profit charts a looooooong time ago. Producing more vehicels may keep the worthless title, but it also crams more Impalas and G6s onto showroom floors to be given away with $2500 rebates... its a genius business plan

[alphalanos]

GM is cranking out clone cars just to keep a stupid title. I wish they would actually build quality vehicles then maybe both of my parents wouldn't have left them for Japanese and Korean brands.

[Shpyder]

These are the same guys who laughed at Toyota's plan to make hybrid vehicles over 30 years ago. It was only a matter of time. Toyota has been kciking GM butt way before these figures came out, though I suppose it is official now. GM and Ford both had such promise; they had an incredible head start on all these Japanese newcomers, and yet, they totally blew it. Arrogance? Perhaps. Incompetance? Certainly.

[BNaylor]

One of GM's problems are the Unions in addition to a questionable product line. It doesn't look good for GM in the U.S. either. Just a matter of time.

Although Toyota still ranks third in U.S. sales, its share of the American market has jumped to 15.6% from 7.3% since 1995. GM's domestic market share has fallen from almost 33% to 23% during that period.

For article click here

[TexasF355F1]

Now that Toyota is on top they have to stay on top. And being #1 isn't easy. I believe I read a stat today that said Toyota has recalled almost more vehicles this year than they sold in 2006.

Toyota quality is slipping in my opinion. And I find it really funny that so many people say that GM cars aren't reliable. I'll agree their interiors aren't up to par. Using cheap thin plastic is a bad thing. But it's not the end of the world, and they are slowly making progress in the right direction I think.

GM knows what they have to do. Having to deal with all of their Union issues causes a loss of focus on what matters.

Ford is in bigger trouble. When you look at them, GM has very small problems.

[00accord44]

All the big 3 are in trouble for many of the same reasons. Old solutions to new problems and a new market have been the downfall of Detroit. New trends and technologies from overseas have been routinely dismissed as new fads by the domestic executives, and routinely those new fads (such as econocars, small suv's, and hybrids) take hold in the market at which point Detroit is left playing catch up. Add to that the inordinate amount of time and money spent on concept vehicles that will never see production and you have a perfect formula for a product line that lags in sales... but hindsight is 20/20

[Jimster]

I think it's a good thing. GM is an insult to business efficiency, the two that shit me the most are:

They tried to hinge thier hopes on trucks and SUV's while making terrible cars, in spite of the fact they surely foresaw rising fuel prices, now less and less people want SUV's and trucks, while Toyota and Honda are making cars that are outselling every single car GM makes by miles.

They have a multitude of brands with no direction or identity. What the hell is the point of Buick or GMC? They're rebadged Chevy's competing against other GM products and chasing people over to Toyotas.

[00accord44]

^I agree 100%... especially with the upgraded user title

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by Jimster

They tried to hinge thier hopes on trucks and SUV's while making terrible cars, in spite of the fact they surely foresaw rising fuel prices, now less and less people want SUV's and trucks, while Toyota and Honda are making cars that are outselling every single car GM makes by miles.

Tried to hinge their hopes on trucks and SUVs? I see the same pattern and no one learned from that lesson. I still see what appears to be more big SUVs on the roads than in the past. GM is making gas guzzling SUVs that are too big and downright ugly. The new Tahoes and Yukons are a prime example.

Originally Posted by Jimster

They have a multitude of brands with no direction or identity. What the hell is the point of Buick or GMC? They're rebadged Chevy's competing against other GM products and chasing people over to Toyotas.

GM dropped the ball on the Buick product line. IMO the LaCrosse and Lucerne are failures. Biggest mistake was dropping the Regal name and having no real performance engines like the supercharged SIII 3800. Sad but Buick will most likely go the way of Oldsmobile.

Now as far as a Buick being a rebadged Chevy I disagree.

In the meantime I'm driving my Buicks until they fall apart. My next door neighbor's Toyota Camry and glorified Honda Acura have been back for service more than any of my Buicks and other GM cars which is nil.

[nismogt_rfreak]

Their biggest problem is that they simply take a car from one brand, rebadge it so it fits into another brand and then doesn't leave a large enough gap between the two in the market. The Chevy Cobalt and the Pontiac G5, for example, compete against each other rather than try to appeal to two different groups of buyers.

[00accord44]

Really its amazing that they've esentially had the same problem in managerial mindset for decades and there have been no attempts to correct it.

Remember this little gem? Its one of my favorites


Cadillac Cimarron aka Chevy Cavalier

[DinanM3_S2]

This is kinda out of left field, but there might be a third player rising up in Europe.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...ge_top+stories

Does anyone think that a resurgent VW could compete at Toyota's level?