Toyota Holds Top Spot As Worlds #1 Carmaker

the administration over here is touting the fact that gm is catching up to them and sold more cars in china last year than they did in the u.s.. of course, profitability is pretty convoluted with all the government loans involved and screwing the former shareholders!

 

Wow,
Nice to know. I have confidence that Toyota will continue to improve it's week point(s) and keep it rank No.1 car manufacturing.

 

I'm sort of a long term optimist. While I'm sure 2010 wasn't tangibly the year Toyota would want from either a sales or publicity standpoint, sometimes I think adversity is needed and ultimately can make you stronger.

I think the recalls, and the negative publicity put a chink in the armor of Toyota. But it also got them to pull back and re-evaluate their approach and methods. Toyota still makes great products, but hopefully they have learned that they can't coast into the future on the reputation of the past.

My guess is from Toyota's P.O.V. 2010 could be looked back on as a pivotal year in the history of the company. But it will be up to Toyota to define what they learned from the experience.

I'm optimistic that they will continue to offer quality and innovative automobiles.

 

The volume of cars sold are the customers voting for which vehicle they like the best. If Toyota continues to focus on quality and image and MPG, customers will continue buying, and therefore voting, for Toyota vehicles.

 

I've got to say I have quite the contrary opinion.

Toyota Recalls 1.7 Million Vehicles Worldwide on Fuel, Tire Carrier Faults - Bloomberg

That seems like a vote of no confidence. I am in agreement with that toyota being sales king is not as important as it building quality cars. Akio Toyoda as much that toyota had lost its way. Doing these recalls earlier instead of covering them up is a step in the right direction. GM was winning the popularity contest until 2008, yet I do not think they made great cars. Toyota seemed to do better when it was younger and hungrier. Hyundai, Nissan, and Ford seem to be the companies that are focused today. I hope Toyota have re focused on quality instead of sales volume, and that Akio Toyoda gets things under control. It may also be wise to have a professional manager take over and akio work on the side as bill ford has done. I think the jury is still out for Toyota's reputation being restored, and hyundai is nipping at its heals just as toyota did to gm.

 

Still #1 after that barrage of terrible publicity is still very very impressive. I thought it would be worse than that seeing Prius prices slashed so heavily when I was shopping for mine in December. I see lots of flashy Toyota ads on TV these days focusing on safety, seeking to restore the faith. I'm sure they will go above and beyond the call of duty in the future to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.

 

Toyota makes some very reliable and safe vehicles and the Prius is cutting edge. But, they seem to have a certain cluelessness sometimes about them. What I mean is some of their models seem to appeal to those who aren't really much into cars. My sister could not care much less about cars except for something safe and reliable - she and husband drive a 2001 Camry equivalent of an LE.

2011 Camry S interior - who's fault was that? Seems awfully bland to me. With sunroof, I at only 6'2" tall am out of headroom, as in, my head just about hits the roof with seat all way down. Read: mistake. You cannot make seat go lower to accomodate a 6'2" driver .... in a Camry????????? Fail. To drive home the point, I can sit any day with fistwidth of headroom in a 2011 Accord sedan with sunroof. Even the Coupe I have a few inches room. Why? I do not know, it just works. btw, Solara headroom was junk for me. That's the kind of stuff that leans me over to Honda over Toyota. Honda seems to dot their i's cross their t's in terms of detail.

2009+ Corolla - can anyone anywhere make a credible case this car is more appealing to a car buff than a Civic or Mazda3? Reliable, yes, desirable, I do not know, kinda bland.

To get down to the nitty gritty on the Prius ... consider the pricey Prius V. Why put 45 series tires on a Prius? Maybe 50 series would finish the look, but 55's seem more appropriate to me. And that steering wheel. If I'm paying $29k+ for a car, that steering wheel better be ace - exactly centered about the driver's seat and have a very nice range of adjustability up/down/in/out. Low door armrest in that price of car? Then what, stick something on the leather which may damage it over time? maybe they need more generations to iron out the details, or more budget to employ higher end interior designers, I don't know. Obviously when you've got a 50 MPG car loaded with features at $31k, don't need to iron out every detail, but the placement of major controls must be really good.

Signed: GrumpyChatter

 

How many vehicles did the other manufacturers recall? Recalls run the gamut from serious catastophic failures to silly BS stuff & nobody is immune. GM had a recall on the Olds Intrigue because (horror of all horors!) the airbag warning label glued to the sunvisor was too small.

Sales is sales. Maybe someone's numbers would be higher if there were fewer recalls (or less media frenzy over a recall). Maybe someone's numbers would be higher if their vehicles were cheaper. Like it or not the "most popular" award goes to the one with the most votes.

With time to adjust production schedules for the smaller market & fuel prices rising don't expect to see a Prius for sale under invoice much longer this year.

 

Jim, I picked the article because it showed the figures of toyota and the growth of american car market. I specifically mentioned in my commentary that the new recalls may represent changes at toyota to be proactive in fixing quality problems, instead of hiding information as they did in 2009 and 2010. It takes time to see if there is really a culture change or whether toyota is only acting better because it is under the microscope.

Market share in the US fell more than expectations. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Part of the problem with toyota was their growth at the expense of ditching part of the tms. Remember toyota gained the title from gm, and gm also lost na market share, even though sales were up. GM is claiming to have turned the corner. It will take years to see if the old TMS is back as Toyoda mentioned. I look with some skeptiscm and will wait to see if toyota and gm have corrected their corporate culture and customer responsiveness problems. Ford took about 5 years after the explorer fiasco to turn things around.

 

Well, they must be doing something right.
This is our first Toyota ever, from both sides of the family as long as cars have been around.
If it weren't for the Prius...well, there's your answer from us Toyota.
Keep up the good work.