Toyota is the No. 1 carmaker in the world. In 2008, it sold 8.97 million vehicles to General Motors' 8.35 million, replacing G.M. in the top spot. Toyota's sales, though, in the difficult world economy, were down 4 percent from 2007.
G.M. had been the largest carmaker since 1931, two years before Toyota began making cars in Japan. Toyota had been closing in on G.M. for years; its sales surged around the world while G.M.’s global expansion was tempered by decades of falling market share in the United States.
G.M. had been the largest carmaker since 1931, two years before Toyota began making cars in Japan. Toyota had been closing in on G.M. for years; its sales surged around the world while G.M.’s global expansion was tempered by decades of falling market share in the United States.
The two had traded places from one quarter to the next in recent years. G.M. had been widely expected to slip into second place in 2007 but held off Toyota by about 3,000 vehicles.
Even though Toyota took over first place, 2008 was not the best of all possible years for the carmaker. On Oct. 9, a dire new forecast for global vehicle sales, because of the worldwide economic slowdown, battered the shares of auto companies. The downturn hammered Toyota, whose sales fell 32.3 percent during the month.
In December, Toyota said it expected to lose $1.7 billion in its main automaking business during the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009. That is the company’s first loss since its first few months in operation in 1937.
But on Feb. 6, 2009, Toyota said it expected that loss to be three times larger than originally expected as global auto sales continued to plunge. Toyota said it expected to lose 450 billion yen, or $5 billion, in the fiscal year through March 31 in its vehicle-making operations. The new forecast underscored the deteriorating situation at Toyota, which blamed the larger loss on both steep declines in auto sales and strong gains by the yen. With no sign of an end to the steep slide in the world auto market, analysts said they expect Toyota to suffer an even larger loss next fiscal year.
Even though Toyota took over first place, 2008 was not the best of all possible years for the carmaker. On Oct. 9, a dire new forecast for global vehicle sales, because of the worldwide economic slowdown, battered the shares of auto companies. The downturn hammered Toyota, whose sales fell 32.3 percent during the month.
In December, Toyota said it expected to lose $1.7 billion in its main automaking business during the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009. That is the company’s first loss since its first few months in operation in 1937.
But on Feb. 6, 2009, Toyota said it expected that loss to be three times larger than originally expected as global auto sales continued to plunge. Toyota said it expected to lose 450 billion yen, or $5 billion, in the fiscal year through March 31 in its vehicle-making operations. The new forecast underscored the deteriorating situation at Toyota, which blamed the larger loss on both steep declines in auto sales and strong gains by the yen. With no sign of an end to the steep slide in the world auto market, analysts said they expect Toyota to suffer an even larger loss next fiscal year.
Posted in: Motor
