August Sales up 14%

Bakemono · 09-01-2005, 05:25 PM

http://www.nyse.com/interface/jsp/NHDetail.jsp?RequestID=2&pageID=NewsHeadlines&sid= ON%2009/01%201170&isdowjones=true
Cap'n

CamNub · 09-01-2005, 05:56 PM

Because the Employee Discounts ended.

rolla-XRS · 09-01-2005, 06:17 PM

Canada's kicking butt too!!

Toyota Canada Sets New August and Year-to-Date Sales Records

(TORONTO) – Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) today announced a new August and year-to-date sales records, with strong performances in both its Toyota and Lexus luxury divisions. Highlights include:
· A record August for total TCI sales, with 16,114 units ahead of last year by 9.6 per cent, contributing to a year-to-date record of 119,873 units, up 3.0 per cent over last year.
· Best August for the Toyota brand with 15,372 units which are 9.3 per cent ahead of last year.
· Best August for Toyota cars as sales of 11,861 are up 14.3 per cent.
· Toyota truck sales of 3,511 units are down 4.8 per cent.
· Best August for the Lexus brand with 742 units beating last August by 17.4 per cent.
· Lexus car sales of 307 jumped by 15.4 per cent over last August.
· Lexus truck sales of 435 units beat last August by 18.9 per cent.

”With gas prices fluctuating, Toyota is enjoying record sales, boosted by products like Echo, Prius and the Canadian-made Matrix which offer best-in-class fuel efficiency, along with our best-selling Corolla,” said Tony Wearing, Managing Director of TCI. “For those seeking the same versatility in a larger vehicle, with the same customer-friendly combination of quality, value, and outstanding fuel economy, the new Toyota Avalon, Highlander Hybrid and even Tacoma trucks are great options too.”

”The steady growth of Lexus continues to be fueled by customer demand for the popular ES sedans and RX SUVs,” said Stuart Payne, Director of Lexus in Canada. “We’re equally delighted to see the response to the new RX 400h gasoline/electric luxury hybrid, as drivers discover that exceptional luxury and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive.”

Sales highlights for August include:
· Record August for the Lexus ES luxury sedan, with 214 units up by 12.6 per cent.
· Record August sales of Corolla reached 4,772 units, up 27.2 per cent.
· Record August sales of Matrix hit 1,871, an increase of 4.6 per cent.
· Record August sales of Prius hybrid, with 222 units, up 38.8 per cent.
· Sales of Echo sedans and hatchbacks; 2,871 units are up 29.4 per cent.
· Sales of 221 Avalon premium intermediate sedans are up significantly over last year.
· Sales of 840 RAV4 SUVs represent a 12.4 per cent increase over last August.
· Sales of 495 Tacoma pickup trucks grew by 175.0 per cent.

Cyorke · 09-01-2005, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamNub

Because the Employee Discounts ended.

Actually the Employee discounts have been going on and will continue to until at least Sept 6. I believe GM and Ford are both going to discontinue it but DCX has said they will continue to offer it indefinitely.

Bakemono · 09-02-2005, 05:10 PM

Yup, GM, Ford and D-C still have the employee pricing program. GM has admitted that in spite of the employee pricing they sales are less than expected.
After Sep 6th Ford and GM are going to end the employee pricing and go to what they call a "value pricing" program. It wont be as cheap as the employee pricing was, but the '06 MSRP will be signifgantly less than the previous MSRPs.
In the end, I dont think it is going to help them much. If a vehicle is a poorly designed, cheaply-made POS it wont matter how low the price is.
Cap'n

84Cressida · 09-02-2005, 06:24 PM

No surprise here.

msm20032003 · 09-09-2005, 06:34 PM

I Personally Hate General Motors. I think they are stupid and cannot design cars. I own 2 Toyotas...A Corolla and a Sienna and i love them both. GM's stock went up about 10 dollars because of the employee pricing but now its going back down about 50 cents a day. IT was only a temporary fix. http://www.detnews.com/2005/specialr.../A01-87977.htm Every Toyota lover should read that.

Bakemono · 09-09-2005, 07:43 PM

Great article, msm.

Oh by the way, welcome to TN!

Cap'n

GM_SUCKS · 09-17-2005, 09:20 AM

you no it is sad when the "largest auto maker" need to try gimics like employe priceing and all it dose is rasie them buy not very much. toyota, durring the employ priceing, actualy rose on the stock market gm should just give up and start makeing smart dissions like makeing cars people want. i hate gm and i think they are dumb

GM_SUCKS

dsmnick · 09-17-2005, 11:31 AM

Even though Toyota doesn't have a company-wide employee discount going on, dealers sure as hell are piling on the incentives. A few dealers around here are advertising it as employee pricing...it's just that you don't see it being advertised nationwide that nobody notices.

Also, all these spectacular month-after-month Toyota increases in sales could be due to increased fleet sales. While Ford and GM's fleet sales are made public, apparently you have to pay a fee to JD Powers in order to find Toyota's fleet sales. I have no doubt that there are still plenty of retail sales, but that doesn't rule out Toyota increasing sales to fleets as the reason for continuous increases every month.

Quote:

Was browsing through my business major brother's Inc mag, and saw a little advertising section sponsored by DCX and Toyota (cue "Odd Couple" music).

Toyota, in discussing the Tacoma and Tundra makes some intersting comments. First, the V6 Tundra is apparently gone for good. The upcoming Tundra will apparently only be offered in V8 trim.

Secondly, they're boasting about adding capacity to get further into the fleet truck business. Now that's not such a big deal. Ford sustains a hefty volume of fleet business on the F-series without seriously impacting residuals and retail TCO. However, Toyota does not have Ford's fleet business relationships, and they probably won't for decades. There's a question in my mind about how many fleet/business sales Toyota can make with the Taco/Tundra

In this little advertising section Toyota also makes a big deal about how the Camry is becoming a popular car for fleet buyers, and that Toyota is eager to expand fleet sales of the Camry.

Now, I have no idea what's going on at Toyota WHQ, and I don't know what their target percentage for Camry fleet volume is. I'm willing to bet, however, that their target percentage is whatever it takes to keep the factories running. The next Ford Taurus, perhaps?

If this is their attitude, we are seeing a classic example of corporate arrogance playing out before our very eyes. "The rules don't apply to us" seems to be the new Toyota motto. It will be interesting to see how far into the fleet business Toyota is willing to take their Camry. Because of a reputation for reliability, resale for the Camry should still hold up well. But it will not hold up as well as the Accord, and it may (in time) not hold up as well as the Mazda6 and perhaps even the Fusion... When that happens, the TCO for new car buyers tips in favor of these other cars.

EDIT

I've done a little research and found out that in 1997 about 12% of Camry sales were to fleets, but in the first 2 months 1/5 of Camry sales went to fleets. Around 390,000 Camrys were sold that year, so that means almost 47,000 went to fleets. Meanwhile, Honda sold close to 365,000 Accords with only 4% fleet sales. That means that the Accord had 5,000 more retail sales than the Camry, but Camry won the title as selling the most cars. With Toyota continuing to increase fleet sales today, how large of a lead do they actually have? Will they do whatever it takes to keep the Camry at #1, even if it means killing off resale value and their reputation?

rolla-XRS · 09-17-2005, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsmnick

Even though Toyota doesn't have a company-wide employee discount going on, dealers sure as hell are piling on the incentives. A few dealers around here are advertising it as employee pricing...it's just that you don't see it being advertised nationwide that nobody notices.

Also, all these spectacular month-after-month Toyota increases in sales could be due to increased fleet sales. While Ford and GM's fleet sales are made public, apparently you have to pay a fee to JD Powers in order to find Toyota's fleet sales. I have no doubt that there are still plenty of retail sales, but that doesn't rule out Toyota increasing sales to fleets as the reason for continuous increases every month.

It's called End-of-Model-Year. And every company has done that as long for decades. Dump the 2005's for whatever you can get. And all dealers, whether Toyota or Nissan or Honda or GM or D/C or Ford have always done this. Except the big-3 pushed extra hard to the point of losing money per vehicle.

Fleet sales? Hummm I don't know about that. Are you guessing or have you actually seen sales data broken down by retail and fleet?? Not that that makes a difference anyways because the Big-3 are losing marketshare in every area.

dsmnick · 09-17-2005, 12:01 PM

No, I don't have actual figures...I tried looking on the internet for recent fleet sales figures, but couldn't find anything for Toyota. I did however find the 1997 info that I posted above which shows Camry edging out the Accord due to fleet sales. Toyota is so marketshare hungry these days that it's not impossible to imagine them increasing fleet sales to keep their "best month ever" headlines. I guess they just don't want us to know where those best month sales are going to.

84Cressida · 09-17-2005, 02:00 PM

Yeah Toyota hardly has ANY fleet sales. Unlike the domestics ACTUAL PEOPLE buy their products, because they are the best, and the Camry is better than the Accord anyway so it's no suprise it outsells it. Your negative Toyota news is becoming VERY ANNOYING. Do you know that the domestics offer vehicles especially for fleets? The Classic, 4 door Grand Am, Taurus, 4 door Blazer? I joke that the local Enterprise is the other Ford/GM dealer in town because all they have are DOMESTIC JUNK.

84Cressida · 09-17-2005, 02:03 PM

Also, just because a few individual dealers are offering discounts that doesn't mean that it's going to have a nationwide sales increase. None of the dealers in my area have done it, and I see new Camrys, Corollas, and more everyday.

Bakemono · 09-17-2005, 02:24 PM

You could say the same thing about Ford and the F-150, dsmnick.
As far as Toyota being desperate to gobble up marketshare, Toyota's board of directors has stated many times that they would prefer a slow increase in sales and marketshare as opposed to explosive growth because they arent willing to sacrafice they reputation for quality and dependability.
Toyota wants to be # 1, but they arent willing to sacrafice their reputation just for the bragging rights. Theres a old saying where Im from, "you gotta dance with the one that brought ya". Toyota is well-aware that quality and durability is what got them to where they are now and they are not about to let quality slip.
Cap'n