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Time in Yerevan: 11:07,   29 March 2024

Toyota clings to global sales lead over Volkswagen

Toyota clings to global sales lead over Volkswagen

YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENPRESS. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) hung onto a slim global sales lead over Volkswagen AG (VOW) in the year’s first six months as rising U.S. demand for SUVs paced a first-half record.

As reports “Armenpress” citing Bloomberg, deliveries for Toyota, including its Hino Motors Ltd. (7205) and Daihatsu Motor Co. units, climbed 3.8 percent to 5.1 million vehicles in the first half, according to a company statement. By comparison, Volkswagen has reported sales of about 5.07 million units, including results for its heavy-truck units.

Japan’s largest listed company has benefited from U.S. buyers’ desire to drive sport utility vehicles, which are on pace to outsell sedans in the market for the first time. Rising deliveries of the new Toyota Highlander and Lexus GX drove U.S. market share gains as Volkswagen posted sales declines and pledged to introduce a mid-size SUV in 2016.

“They’ve gotten so good at building products that really hit with customers,” said Jim Press, a former U.S. sales chief and 37-year Toyota veteran who now consults for the Renault-Nissan alliance. “Contrast that to Volkswagen: they don’t have this market figured out. They’ve failed to succeed in North America because they don’t really understand it.”

Even so, Volkswagen is closing the gap with Toyota. The German automaker reported about 2.57 million deliveries for the April-to-June period, excluding results for its MAN SE and Scania AB units, which topped Toyota’s 2.51 million vehicles sold in the quarter.

Both companies remain ahead of General Motors Co. (GM) after the first six months of the year.

Worldwide deliveries for GM, the largest U.S. automaker increased 1.4 percent to 4.92 million cars and trucks, as rising sales in China and the U.S. helped offset declines in Europe and South America.

Consumer demand for GM vehicles held up even as the Detroit-based company called back almost 29 million vehicles in North America this year. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra led GM through an unprecedented pace of recalls after February, when the automaker began fixing compact cars with potentially faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths.

Volkswagen beat Toyota during the second quarter as the aging Prius hybrid paced declining deliveries in Japan after a government tax hike took effect April 1.

Prius fell to third place among Japan’s top-selling models in the first half after leading the industry in the year-earlier period. The model’s slump contributed to the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker posting wider sales declines than the total industry after Japan’s first consumer levy increase in 17 years.

“The result was surprising,” Yoshiaki Kawano, a Tokyo-based analyst for IHS automotive, said of Toyota finishing ahead of Volkswagen after the first six months. “The negative effect from the rising tax rate wasn’t as big as we assumed. Their sales should be aided by the U.S., where the economy is good and consumer’s tastes are shifting from traditional sedans to pickup trucks and SUVs.”

In the U.S., deliveries of Toyota’s Highlander SUV surged 17 percent this year through June, while sales of the RAV4 crossover climbed 15 percent. The automaker also more than doubled deliveries of its refreshed Lexus GX SUV.

Including more fuel-efficient, car-like crossover models, SUVs accounted for 36.5 percent of U.S. new-vehicle registrations this year through May, compared with 35.4 percent for sedans, researcher IHS Automotive said this month. Sedans, which held the top spot for decades, had led 36.6 percent to 33.9 percent a year earlier.








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