Toyota reclaims global auto sales crown

2012 UK Full Year models from bestsellingcarblog:
Full Year 2012 Top 10 models and Top 43 All-Brands Ranking Tables below.

Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog » UK Full Year 2012: Nissan Qashqai hits highest ever ranking for a Japanese model

 

World’s Largest Automakers - Full Year 2012 Data
Toyota = 9,909,440 26.1%
GM = 9,288,277 2.9%
VW = 9,070,000 11.2%
Volkswagen Can Be World’s Largest Automaker In 2013 – As Unlikely As It May Be. GM In Danger Of Dropping To Third | The Truth About Cars

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My good friend had a VW, it started falling apart after 60,000 miles.

 

BMW a top 10 in England. Those Brits must have money. BMW is a luxury car in the USA and I can't recall it ever reaching the Top 10 best sellers.

 

Who knows, maybe barebone diesels with manual transmission.

 

Exactly that. You have the big sports engines sold as sports cars.

Ours will have 1.8 litre petrol or diesel options with manual transmissions. The Prius on the other hand is sold for similar money as BMWs and ours are higher speced than the ones you get in the US. Our base t3 is similar to your Prius 4 (or is it IV?)

 

You are 100% correct. I went to a BMW launch event sponsored by the Marketing deptartment in San Diego albeit awhile ago. I spoke to the 3 Series Product Manager who works in NJ (I'm sure one of many). He said in Germany there are plenty of 3 series on the road and many driven by working stiffs. However they have Vinyl interior with stick. In the USA BMW is a luxury brand. In Germany thet get a stripped down version that is Diesel and keep the car 10-20 years. Many will pay a little more but understand they will drive the car and hand it down to there children.

Americans (not all ) tend to be a nation of disposables. We lease our cars and hand them in. We could not care beyond the lease term. In California greater than 50% rent rather than own a primary home. Average job tenure is less than 2 years. In California we build homes out of Chicken Wire and Stucco on wooden frames on postage stamp sized lots. They are not designed to last long. In Europe my Great Grand Parents home is still occupied and passed down from generation to generation. They just don't make em like that any more here. I'm running adrift.

 

You may have to rethink that american's dispose of their cars quickly. That has changed and there are many old cars on the road including bmws and mercedes.

The average age of an american car is now 11 years old, trucks are over 10. Many of the older and less efficient haven't been crushed but resold in other countries like mexico. American's keep their cars longer and drive more miles on them than Japanese and Europeans.

It must be remembered that GM held the sales crown for 77 years, when people start thinking biggest is best. I expect that some of the things that Toyota did to get to be the biggest are negatives for the brand. I fully expect that if VW isn't the biggest by their planned 2018, that either they changed their minds about growth, or Toyota has given into some baser instincts.

Best car company in the world right now is probably Tesla. They don't make any low quality cars with cheap materials. They are well managed and have impeccable engineering. Toyota and Mercedes both went to them for engineering work. You can't keep the standards Tesla has and grow to be the biggest though.
The World's Best Car Company - Forbes.com
Forbes in the past said it was porsche, but VW swallowed porsche and the sum is not greater than its individual parts in this case.

 

I agree Tesla is the Future. Are you buying their stock? Is it a good investment?

 

I'm not sure if its a great investment, but yes I own some. I bought their stock just under $30 at the end of last year when everyone was acting as if slowing deliveries to make sure of quality was a negative.

 

Maybe its' the economy, lack of jobs, erosion of earning power of the American populace?
Maybe these are some of the reasons Americans are holding onto their vehicles longer?
Maybe these old 10 year old vehicles are lasting longer?
Maybe the costs of new vehicles are keeping people from getting a new one?
Maybe it's all of the above?

DBCassidy

 

At this rate we may catch up with Cuba, heck some of those Chevy's are from the 50's

Well more bad news, Ford lost 2 Billion in it's European operations and they will lose just as much this year.

Ford's Unhappy $2 Billion European Surprise - Forbes

USA GDP numbers released for Q 4 was negative. 2 negative quarters is a recession. All eyes on the current quarter.

We bought 2 new cars in my family, one in November replacing a 7 year old car, and one this month replacing a 5 year old car. Both new purchases are hybrids. Perhaps I assumed most Americans are like me and don't keep cars long. Thanks for the correction.

 

Ford Europe have suddenly had interference from US HQ. Remember who was responsible for the two surprise hits hitting your show rooms lately? The Focus and the Fiesta? Then there's the C-Max too.

Ford have also lost significant sales as the Mondeo replacement model which is now to be made in the US for the Euro market has been delayed by over a year. The model it was to replace was long in the tooth this time last year and sales were slipping, but 12 months on - nothing.

It's not all one sided.

 

This is reclaiming of the "top spot" is not too surprising, but a little more impressive when you consider the problems between Japan and China, and the Chinese ban on Japanese automobiles.

 

Yep Ford they got some fixing to do.

What is that all about, some Island with birds on it. Amazing how China, S Korea, N Korea, Japan are all intense. The Japanese are very clever nation. They will resolve. Than again maybe not.