Toyota Is No. 2 Over Ford; Toyota-Chevy Battle for Brand Leadership
By Michelle Krebs January 3, 2008Toyota Motor Corp. overtook Ford Motor Co. to become the No. 2 automaker based on U.S. sales for 2007. Ford held the No. 2 spot behind General Motors for 75 years.
The battle for brand leadership between Toyota and Chevrolet is muddied -- but close and intense.
If sales from Scion, sold through Toyota Division showrooms, are included in 2007 sales totals, Toyota wins over Chevrolet for the first time as the top-selling brand in the U.S.
Take out Scion, however, and Chevy holds onto the top spot, but by a narrow margin -- one that has been narrowing in recent years.
Here's the scorecard based on Edmunds.com's calculations:
Ford Motor Co. vs. Toyota Motor Sales - 2007
Total Ford* 2,572,599
Total Toyota 2,620,644
Toyota vs. Ford difference 48,045
(Ford figures include heavy trucks, which Toyota does not sell; Toyota figures include Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands)
Toyota Division vs. Chevrolet Division - 2007
Chevrolet 2,265,641
Toyota (with Scion) 2,291,648
Toyota (minus Scion) 2,161,467
Chevy vs. Toyota w/Scion difference 26,007
Chevy vs. Toyota w/out Scion difference 104,174
Scion sales in 2007 totaled 130,181
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Ford Motor Co. as in just ford, or counting sales from volvo, mazda, etc.?
and I'm guessing this means that GM as a whole is still beating toyota by a bit since they have other brands that they own but aren't a part of chevrolet?
Mark - GM is thrashing Toyota if you include all their brands such as Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, GMC, Cadillac, Saab and Hummer. Toyota are nowhere near beating GM in the US market.
To set the record straight, GM sold 3.87 million vehicles in 2007. That compares to Toyota's 2.6 million. Yes, Toyota has a long way to go to catch up to GM in the U.S., at least.
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