Perhaps for the first time this year, Toyota has some good news to report. Japan’s number one automaker has been hit the hardest by the March earthquake as it has the largest portion of domestic production of any other local manufacturer.
When it looked like it might recover, the Thai floods hit its supply chain once again. Moreover, the strong yen makes things even harder for Toyota. Yet in November, sales of Toyota Division in the U.S., which includes the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands were up by 7 percent compared to the same month in 2010.
“All of our plants are operating at normal levels”, said Toyota Division general manager Bob Carter. “We’re close to near normal inventory.”
In total, last month Toyota sold 137,960 units with the new, 2012 Camry recording a 13 percent increase in sales to 23,440 units. Its hybrid version and the sporty SE are also performing very well, with the latter attracting younger customers to the brand.
That’s why Carter added that “I’m asking Georgetown [where the Camry is assembled] to build all the Camry Hybrids and SEs that they can build.”
Prius sales also had an impressive increase of 49 percent to 15,208 units, helped by the fact that the new Prius V wagon has joined the hybrid’s line-up for 2012.
On the other hand, not all models are performing as well. Scion sales have fallen by 7 percent and Carter admitted that inventories on the compact Corolla, as well as the Tundra and Tacoma pickup, are still “lighter than normal”.
Nevertheless, with less than a month to go for the year’s end, Toyota and Lexus will probably have to accept that 2011 results will trail those of 2010. In the first 11 months, the two brands sold 1.42 million units, vs. 1.54 million in the same period last year.
Story References: Autonews
