Toyota claims No 2 automaker spot
Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation said on Monday the group sold 6.78 million vehicles worldwide in 2003, putting it above Ford Motor to become the world's second largest automaker by sales for the first time.
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The Toyota figures compare with 6.72 million vehicles sold globally last year by Ford, which had long maintained the number two spot behind General Motors Corp.
While Ford has struggled to benefit from its acquisition of Sweden's Volvo, Toyota has posted higher profits and plowed them into North America, China and Southeast Asia, boosting output and sales.
General Motors is the world's top automaker with sales of 8.59 million vehicles in 2003.
When gasoline in the U.S. starts costing $3 or 4 bucks a gallon -- and it will -- GM is going to find selling Hummers and its other dreadnaught-class barges about as easy as selling cancer. That is when hybrid-intensive Toyota will slide right past them into the number one slot, finishing the revolution they helped start in 1973.
I'm certain there are at least a handful of folks at GM who are smart enough to know about peak oil and how utterly unprepared they are for another hike in oil prices. But their leaders are content to burn Rome while America plays. And they seem to have been taking lessons from the tobacco companies in their approach to global warming. So I will have sympathy for their employees when the end comes, but will shed no tears for their shareholders or management.
And to those who cling to "buy American" slogans -- do you mean the Ford from Mexico, the Honda from Ohio, the BMW from South Carolina, or the Pontiac from Canada?
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The Toyota figures compare with 6.72 million vehicles sold globally last year by Ford, which had long maintained the number two spot behind General Motors Corp.
While Ford has struggled to benefit from its acquisition of Sweden's Volvo, Toyota has posted higher profits and plowed them into North America, China and Southeast Asia, boosting output and sales.
General Motors is the world's top automaker with sales of 8.59 million vehicles in 2003.
When gasoline in the U.S. starts costing $3 or 4 bucks a gallon -- and it will -- GM is going to find selling Hummers and its other dreadnaught-class barges about as easy as selling cancer. That is when hybrid-intensive Toyota will slide right past them into the number one slot, finishing the revolution they helped start in 1973.
I'm certain there are at least a handful of folks at GM who are smart enough to know about peak oil and how utterly unprepared they are for another hike in oil prices. But their leaders are content to burn Rome while America plays. And they seem to have been taking lessons from the tobacco companies in their approach to global warming. So I will have sympathy for their employees when the end comes, but will shed no tears for their shareholders or management.
And to those who cling to "buy American" slogans -- do you mean the Ford from Mexico, the Honda from Ohio, the BMW from South Carolina, or the Pontiac from Canada?
posted by bluememe at 2/16/2005
2 Comments:
Yeah,
But I love the Ford Mustang, and I never liked any Toyota. My ex-wife had a Toyota Corolla and it was really a piece of junk. I don't think Toyota has a real idea of what the American consumer really wants. The reason they sold so well is because they are cheaper, and more economical, not because their cars are better or faster.
This is my opinion...
My ex-wife had a Toyota Corolla and it was really a piece of junk. I don't think Toyota has a real idea of what the American consumer really wants. The reason they sold so well is because they are cheaper, and more economical, not because their cars are better or faster.Gee, my last three Toyota Corollas have been excellent. One needed a head gasket and no other repairs in the five years I owned it, and the other two needed NO MAJOR REPAIRS in the five years each I owned them. Did I mention I buy six-year-old used Toyotas? That I get almost forty miles to the gallon? That's what this American consumer wants. I don't need a faster car, because my penis is big enough. And how do you define "better"? I define it "cheaper, and more economical".
My current Corolla was made in California. My last one was made in Canada.
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