“Toyota Motor Corp. trumped General Motors (GM) in total car sales during the first nine months of 2008 to become the world’s top car producer for the first time,” the Mainichi Shimbun reports from Tokyo. “Huh,” say you, “hasn’t ToMoCo trampled GM already?” Not exactly, and not officially. But they are kicking ass and GM to the bottom. Unstoppably, one may add. “GM’s sales between January and September in 2008 were down 5.8 percent to 6,655,751, according to figures released by the company on Wednesday. Toyota’s sales for the same period, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors, were 7,051,029, almost unchanged from last year,” writes the Tokyo broadsheet with a kuso-eating grin on their faces, in the same sentence dispelling rumors that ToMoCo had contracted the galloping auto trade tuberculosis. [NB: Mainichi is one of the top three Nipponese papers,thick with Japanese politicos. Two of Mainichi’s CEOs became Prime Ministers of the Land of the Rising Corolla.] And yet the fat lady has not sung…
Officially, and unbelievably, GM is still the world’s largest automaker. The official score keeper of all things auto is the oddly French-named “Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles,” better known as OICA. In OICA’s 2007 tally of units sold, GM had edged-out Toyota by 800k units, and by creative bookkeeping, such as counting sales of companies where they had only a minority share. Immediately, Toyota shouted “foul!” (Politely.) They pointed to 9,497,754 units Toyota had made (as in produced) worldwide in 2007, versus 9,349,818 made by GM. Be it as it may, in the world according to OICA, GM is still the top dog until the fat lady sings the aria of the 2008 numbers.
With a deep bow towards Detroit, the Mainichi scribes now rub it in slicker than a Tokyo oily massage: “And while GM just beat out Toyota in total sales over 2007 as a whole, good first half figures and a relatively soft blow from the economic crisis compared to its American rival mean that Toyota is set to take the top spot this year.” You bet your ketsu they will.
Quite frankly this should be a surprise to no one. Since 2006 the trend has been obvious. The biggest question is where the Koreans fit. At this rate of change, it’s not unconceivable that they could supplant the States as the second largest nation in terms of units sold.
I’m curious to see what GM’s official response to this will be. While this may be a “no shit” story for TTAC readers and many others, perhaps Waggoner, Lutz, and other GM execs will officially have to acknowledge that it’s their own damn fault that ToMoCo’s kicking their ass. Oh, what am I thinking? They’ll blame their problems on the economy, the UAW, etc..
The goof balls from GM will no doubt put out some PR Baloney for the fanboy masses to munch on. They will most likely survive thanks to our money bailing them out. Shame that the hucksters and con men will keep their fat salaries and bonuses….. but looks like that will be the case. What is our country coming to anyway…just incredible.
Well, the interesting part is that ToMoCo says the WORLD economoy is (was?) not as bad as it’s hopped up to be. VeeDub (see yesterday’s report) was tooting the same horn. Their (unspoken, but hinted) message is: If you’ve been losing money and customers when times were good, woe is you during bad times. Both are well positioned in growth markets such as China. GM looked like they were taking over China, and then dropped the ball. Ford and especially Chrysler are nobody in China.
Europe, Japan, and the USA are chockablock full with cars. Western Europe and Japan have a demographics problem: Since 1970, birthrate down by half, means the market is getting smaller and smaller. The hope are China, Russia, India, in that order.
This is like saying that Toyota sold more cars than McDonalds, since GM is now officially out of the car business.
GM is no longer a financial services company, since GMAC is gone (in more ways than one). It doesn’t ever have to sell another car.
GM survives now as a homeless former car company. Its revenue stream now comes excusively from taxpayers. Its real business is professional welfare queen.
I predict, some time down the road, we’ll be reporting Hyundai surpassing Toyota in overall sales.
Then again, Batista predicted that Fidel Castro’s reign would last one year, no longer. So what do I know?
“edged” out by 800,000 units? Are you kidding? Sounds like GM in a landslide.
@Bridge2far: Wer’e talking worldwide sales. Including everything that has wheels, 4 or more. Cars, trucks (light and heavy) even busses. In that realm, 800K ain’t no landslide
On 2007, GM reported 9,349,818 sales, Toyota reported 8,534,690. That’s supposed to be sales to customer btw, not alleged sales onto already overcrowded dealer lots (a goosing of numbers for which Ford is still notorious.) The “sales” immediately came under suspicion, because GM counted 100% sales of companies they only had a minority interest in.
Toyota pointed to real production numbers. Said Toyota had produced 9,497,754 units in the same period, while GM had only produced 9,349,818. And GM “sold” all they produced? (Or maybe didn’t even produce.) “Sumimasen, our cars move faster off the lots than yours,” Toyota wanted to say, but Japanese school of good manners kept them from doing that, “are you frikken kidding us?”
Anyway, that cheating chapter is closed. GM is assured of its own Pearl Harbour of 2008, and this time, nobody can say they didn’t see it coming.
Speaking of Hyundai, they have a long ways to go. They totalled 2,617,725 units in 2007.
Ok. I follow the logic. But 800,000 is still 800,000. Isn’t that like almost a million?