Toyota Threatens GM for # 1 spot
03-10-05, 11:54 PM
#1
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Toyota Threatens GM for # 1 spot
Got this from the Car and Driver website!
Toyota Threatens GM for Number One Spot
The Daily Auto Insider
Thursday, March 10, 2005
March 2005
Toyota, which passed Ford to become the world's number two automaker in annual global vehicle sales in 2003, may overtake General Motors as the world's top automaker, the Japan Times reported.
Last year, Toyota sold 7.52 million vehicles around the world, including its truck subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes tiny cars. Ford sold 6.80 million vehicles in 2004.
In 2003, Toyota's worldwide sales totaled 6.78 million vehicles, including Hino and Daihatsu, while Ford's sales — which include Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, but not sales for Mazda, which is 33.4 percent owned by Ford — stood at 6.72 million vehicles.
At this pace, Toyota could overtake Ford on its own, even without Daihatsu and Hino. Toyota alone sold 6.07 million vehicles in 2003, and 6.71 million vehicles in 2004.
Meanwhile, General Motors is still the world's number one automaker, producing 9.1 million vehicles in 2004, up from 8.8 million in 2003.
Toyota Threatens GM for Number One Spot
The Daily Auto Insider
Thursday, March 10, 2005
March 2005
Toyota, which passed Ford to become the world's number two automaker in annual global vehicle sales in 2003, may overtake General Motors as the world's top automaker, the Japan Times reported.
Last year, Toyota sold 7.52 million vehicles around the world, including its truck subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes tiny cars. Ford sold 6.80 million vehicles in 2004.
In 2003, Toyota's worldwide sales totaled 6.78 million vehicles, including Hino and Daihatsu, while Ford's sales — which include Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, but not sales for Mazda, which is 33.4 percent owned by Ford — stood at 6.72 million vehicles.
At this pace, Toyota could overtake Ford on its own, even without Daihatsu and Hino. Toyota alone sold 6.07 million vehicles in 2003, and 6.71 million vehicles in 2004.
Meanwhile, General Motors is still the world's number one automaker, producing 9.1 million vehicles in 2004, up from 8.8 million in 2003.
03-11-05, 05:24 AM
#4
Lexus Connoisseur
The slogan "Moving Forward" is fitting for Toyota, because they will eclipse GM soon. 
03-11-05, 05:24 AM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
IMO both Ford and GM are too large and own too many other companies. Toyota, large as it is, is basically just itself and Daihatsu......discounting , of course, the Scion and Lexus divisions which are just branches of Toyota itself.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
03-11-05, 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Lexusfreak
Got this from the Car and Driver website!
Toyota Threatens GM for Number One Spot
Last year, Toyota sold 7.52 million vehicles around the world, including its truck subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes tiny cars.
Meanwhile, General Motors is still the world's number one automaker, producing 9.1 million vehicles in 2004, up from 8.8 million in 2003.
Toyota Threatens GM for Number One Spot
Last year, Toyota sold 7.52 million vehicles around the world, including its truck subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes tiny cars.
Meanwhile, General Motors is still the world's number one automaker, producing 9.1 million vehicles in 2004, up from 8.8 million in 2003.
I know GM produced quite a bit of GTO/Monarco, but they are not selling them.........
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03-11-05, 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
IMO both Ford and GM are too large and own too many other companies. Toyota, large as it is, is basically just itself and Daihatsu......discounting , of course, the Scion and Lexus divisions which are just branches of Toyota itself.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
03-11-05, 01:32 PM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by xioix
those companys cant leave, they were straight up bought by ford because they couldnt compete and make any money, mazda wouldve been bankrupt if it wasnt for ford
Ford may have brought some money into the company but money alone doesn't make a good product. In fact, sometimes it can work AGAINST a good product.....as recent M-B and BMW vehicles so painfully demonstrate.
03-11-05, 04:41 PM
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GM and Ford bought all these smaller companies just so they could stay afloat in the industry, and to have their revenues remain high. What really angers me is that by themselves, many of these comapnies made great cars, and now, they're all making cars of worse and worse quality. on top of that, companies like Saab are becoming a financial burden on GM. One of the biggest dissapoints (and many will agree) was the merger of Chrysler with Daimler-Benz. As a result, MB cars are suffering now, their quality isn't as high as it used to be, while Chrysler is using more and more parts from the Mercedes bin to keep selling their cars. The Crossfire, 300C, and Pacifica for example all use *some* Mercedes parts.
You can add Hino to the list of Toyota divisions. Toyota really is just Hino, Daihatsu, and Lexus, and of course, Toyota cars. Even without counting Hino, Daihatsu, and Lexus, Toyota still sells a ton of cars. Toyota reached a peak in 2004 I believe with 44% of marketshare in Japan.
I'm guessing Toyota will be able to overtake GM in about 5- 7 years. This is just volume, in terms of actual monetary value, Toyota is already worth more than the Big 3 combined. That says a lot I think. Not to mention Toyota's profits eclipse those of GM.
You can add Hino to the list of Toyota divisions. Toyota really is just Hino, Daihatsu, and Lexus, and of course, Toyota cars. Even without counting Hino, Daihatsu, and Lexus, Toyota still sells a ton of cars. Toyota reached a peak in 2004 I believe with 44% of marketshare in Japan.
I'm guessing Toyota will be able to overtake GM in about 5- 7 years. This is just volume, in terms of actual monetary value, Toyota is already worth more than the Big 3 combined. That says a lot I think. Not to mention Toyota's profits eclipse those of GM.
03-11-05, 07:47 PM
#13
Lexus Champion
Originally Posted by mmarshall
IMO both Ford and GM are too large and own too many other companies. Toyota, large as it is, is basically just itself and Daihatsu......discounting , of course, the Scion and Lexus divisions which are just branches of Toyota itself.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
True, the auto buisness is global there days, but there is no practical reason IMO why Ford and GM each HAVE to own half-a dozen or so European and Asian companies.....that is just absurd.
Mazda, Volvo, Saab, Land-Rover, Opel, Jaguar, Aston-Martin,....ALL of these companies should divorce themselves from the bean counters at Ford and GM and go back to producing vehicles on their own, with cars of distinctive personality rather than just rebadging " world " platforms.
In particular, Ford ruined Mazda back in the early 1990's and the company has yet to completely recover from it.
Yet..the interesting thing is that Toyota is basically just its own divisions and that's it....with a couple of small firms like Daihausu.
03-11-05, 09:17 PM
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
No...I disagree. You, of course, are entitled to your opinion....and I respect that.....but I have watched through history what has happened to that company. Mazda started downhill BECAUSE of Ford. I drove Mazda products for years and was a big supporter of the company before I switched to Toyota-Lexus in the mid 90's. They were excellent, both quality-wise and in chassis / steering dynamics ( though the transmissions weren't in Toyota's league) , and had the reputation as the poor man's BMW. In fact, in the late 1980's and early 90's, before Ford forced Mazda to start selling re-badged Rangers here, the Japanese-built B-series Mazda trucks beat out even the Toyota trucks several years in a row for the top J.D. Power satisfaction ratings.
Ford may have brought some money into the company but money alone doesn't make a good product. In fact, sometimes it can work AGAINST a good product.....as recent M-B and BMW vehicles so painfully demonstrate.
Ford may have brought some money into the company but money alone doesn't make a good product. In fact, sometimes it can work AGAINST a good product.....as recent M-B and BMW vehicles so painfully demonstrate.
03-12-05, 04:28 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by TRDFantasy
GM and Ford bought all these smaller companies just so they could stay afloat in the industry, and to have their revenues remain high. What really angers me is that by themselves, many of these comapnies made great cars, and now, they're all making cars of worse and worse quality. on top of that, companies like Saab are becoming a financial burden on GM. One of the biggest dissapoints (and many will agree) was the merger of Chrysler with Daimler-Benz. As a result, MB cars are suffering now, their quality isn't as high as it used to be, while Chrysler is using more and more parts from the Mercedes bin to keep selling their cars. The Crossfire, 300C, and Pacifica for example all use *some* Mercedes parts.
.
.
TRDF here actually explains it better then I did..........that these companies that once made cars with distinct, unique, and differing personalities, are now, thanks to Ford and GM 's bean counters, more or less just cranking out cars from basic cookie-cutter "World-platform" designs that look and run like appliances.
I also apologize for getting the whole thread more or less off topic.....Toyota's rise to possibly the next #1 auto manufacturer. I was trying to point out that even in the huge position they are in now, Toyota STILL doesn't own as many other companies as Ford and GM. Pehaps that explains it a little better.
