Is Toyota going to top GM in 2006?

Quote:
Toyota to replace GM as world top automaker

TOKYO, Oct. 26, 2005; Xinhua News service reported that Japan's largest automaker Toyota Motor Corp. group is expected to boost its automobile production to more than 9.2 million units in 2006, making it almost certain that the group will top the giant US automaker General Motors Corp.to become the world's biggest automaker in terms of output, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Toyota has decided to raise its 2006 global production volume by 12 percent from its 2005 projection of 8.3 million units, or an increase of roughly 900,000 units, the business daily said.

Toyota group automakers Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd.have yet to finalize their plans for 2006, but they will likely increase their total output from the roughly 900,000 units projected for 2005 amid strong domestic sales, the newspaper said.

In contrast, global production of GM in 2006 is unlikely to top its 2005 projection of 9.12 million units in light of factory closures following a severe sales slump, it said.
Source: www.theautochannel.com

[epinionator89]

I always knew it was a matter of "when" Toyota would become the top automaker, not "if".

[Cyorke]

production and sales are two different things. WIll jsut have to wait and see waht the numbers are at the end of the year. In profit they have everyone spanked already but total number sold is not there yet.

[Bakemono]

Production, maybe. Sales, no. Toyota has a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go before the eclipse GM.
Toyota is still #3 in US sales.
Cap'n

[HoboJoe]

^Who's #2? Ford?

[ricers-shaft-b3]

Production, maybe. Sales, no. Toyota has a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go before the eclipse GM.
Toyota is still #3 in US sales.
Cap'n


we are talking about global sales and not us sales: however i still think that realistically it will be end 2008 before toyota unequivocally buries GM; (that is if GM doe not go bankrupt before then which again is adistinct possibility!)

[Bakemono]

I know, Ricers, I was just pointing out the Ford is still hanging on in the US market.
Cap'n

[EchoHoLiK]

So my question is how many percent of marketshare does GM have (with all its sub-brands and what not combined) today?? Does anyone have a concrete answer to that?

Otherwise, Toyota is currently already #1 worldwide, with 10% of global marketshare. They're aiming for 15% in the next 5 years.

[EchoHoLiK]

Originally Posted by Captain_Toyota

I know, Ricers, I was just pointing out the Ford is still hanging on in the US market.
Cap'n

Last time I checked (forgot which site/source), Toyota's #2 behind GM, pushing Ford down to 3rd place in US. Unless the ranking's updated after the big-3's pathetic "employee discount" scheme.

Anyway, IMHO Toyota already has the game in the bag, even without the ambition to be #1 in US. Being US #1 doesn't mean too much when you look at the big picture.

[Cyorke]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101900995.html
20.5% US market share for GM

http://www.gmeurope.com/news/2005/news_051017.html

GM’s global-automotive operations reported a loss of $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2005, as profitable results in GM’s Asia-Pacific and Latin America/Africa/Mid-East regions were more than offset by losses in North America and Europe. GM's global-automotive operations lost $219 million in the prior-year period.

GM's global market share was 14.6 percent in the third quarter of 2005, compared with 15.4 percent in the year-ago period. Through the first nine months of 2005, GM sold more than 7 million vehicles worldwide, up 3.7 percent, with market share gains in three out of four business regions. Through September, GM’s global market share was 14.4 percent compared to 14.5 percent a year ago.

I didnt look up Toyotas but you wanted hard numbers for GM so this is waht I found.

[TRDSienna]

There has been speculation that Toyota might buy out GM once they bankrupt in less than two years.

[Cyorke]

If you are going to say something like that you need to have some kind of link or something taht has some more info. I seriously doubt that Toyota is wanting to get in the business of buying run down american car companies. Who is specualting . Links, something.

[ricers-shaft-b3]

There has been speculation that Toyota might buy out GM once they bankrupt in less than two years.

i doubt that any govt would ever allow toyota to buy out such a huge corporation like GM for anti trust reasons,(irrspective of whether or not toyota is ever inclined to buy it) however a more likely scenario is that once GM files for bankruptcy toyota may consider buying some of GM's intellectual property with respect to fuel cell technlogy and hybrids (any thing that it considers useful but does not already own so as to achieve a hammerlock on this technology once and for all); again this is my own supposition, not somethng that i heard or read about.

again my take:

in order to raise more dough, Gm will at some time have to sell isuzu, suzuki and saab; the likely buyers might be honda (isuzu-will give honda an entry into the truck and diesel segmnets); nissan (suzuki-nissan will geta access to the minicar business) and renault (saab-it can rebadege the infiniti as saab vehicles and thus compete head on with bmw, merc and audi in europe where japanese brands are hated far more than anywhere else in the world, merely because they are japanese!)

[Cyorke]

I ahve to agree with ricer to some extent. However the merger between Diamler and Chrysler was approved. I wouldnt count on GM filing bankruptcy anytime soon though. They were in the same position in the 80's. THey were almost ready to file and then if I rememerb right the fed govt bailed them out didnt they? I am not sure about the bail out but I know they were close to bankruptcy. Maybe with all the new cars they have coming out over the next several months and years it will give them a big boost.

What would Toyota do with them if they were to buy them out of bankruptcy anyway. They may have some intellectual properties that Toyota is interested in but obviously they are not producing the vehcicles that people want so Toyota would have to get rid of all of that nad start over pretty much. I can maybe see them purchasing some of the old plants or something like thatbut then again most of the GM plants are decades old and would probably have to be redone with a tremendous amount of money pumped into them.

Then you have the unions to think about also. IN the south the people that work for the Japanese auto manufacturers do not want anything to do with a union for the msot part. If any Japanese company were to purchase one of the big three how would they go about working taht out. I know they have tried to unionize the Nissan plant here in Smyrna,TN numerous times with no luck. It is usually voted against by a very wide majority.

[Bakemono]

I think you would see the US government bailing out GM before they went bankrupt. Theyve done it for American companies in the past and no way would the government just let a huge American company like GM die. If GM goes under, a lot of other little companies go under too!
Cap'n