June 2011 Auto Sales Thread
Pole Position
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From: CA
2. Nissan has a much more diversified supplier chain.
3. Honda and Toyota scaled back incentives due to perceived inventory shortages. Nissan, on the other hand, has increased incentives in a big way. Especially on the cars that are in ample supply (Altima).
By the way, it looks like Toyota has started increasing incentives now that their factories are increasing production. Here in SoCal, they were offering an extra $1,000 cash back on most models during the 4th of July weekend. I have never seen them do that before.
Lexus Fanatic
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From: A better place
No they do not.
"No word" does not mean it's not coming out. Toyota confirmed they are releasing 20 new products in the US over the next 2 years, 13 of which will be significantly redesigned or all-new. That means not refreshes or mid-model updates, but big redesigns. I'm not sure if this figure includes the Lexus lineup, or just the Toyota lineup.
All of the huge R&D money spent over the last few years, you'll soon see where it went. It went into new products, innovation, and quality, quality, quality. Products like the LFA and FRS are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
Over the next 2-3 years, almost the entire Toyota and Lexus US lineups will be redesigned. That right there is where a huge amount of R&D money went.
Nissan builds a smaller percentage of cars in Japan compared to Honda and Toyota. Nissan also uses less Japanese suppliers percentage-wise compared to Honda and Toyota.
Out of the Japanese big 3 automakers, Toyota builds the most vehicles percentage-wise in Japan. So therefore the disaster hit Toyota the hardest, followed by Honda, and Nissan got hit the least.
All of the huge R&D money spent over the last few years, you'll soon see where it went. It went into new products, innovation, and quality, quality, quality. Products like the LFA and FRS are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
Over the next 2-3 years, almost the entire Toyota and Lexus US lineups will be redesigned. That right there is where a huge amount of R&D money went.
Out of the Japanese big 3 automakers, Toyota builds the most vehicles percentage-wise in Japan. So therefore the disaster hit Toyota the hardest, followed by Honda, and Nissan got hit the least.
Pole Position
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From: CA
Lexus is dead serious about making quality their top priority again. This is evident in their newest product, the CT, which doesn't suffer from the minor quality lapses that plagued new Lexuses in '06-'07 (rattles, wind noise, tranny flares, etc...).
Lexus Fanatic
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From: A better place
Internet critics may say otherwise, but they do not understand that Toyota does not frivolously waste money. The huge amount of R&D spending Toyota had from 2006 up until now will be very evident in the new products coming over the next few years.
No problem
.
Pole Position
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From: CA
Carlos Ghosn deserves the credit for this. He terminated several long-standing partnerships that Nissan had with Japanese suppliers and started buying components from cheaper non-Japanese sources.
Driver
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From: BC
Canadian Luxury & Near-luxury/Premium Brand Sales - June, 2011
Data for luxury and near-luxury/premium brand auto sales in Canada for June 2011, extracted from this article:
Source: Desrosiers & Automotive News Data Center
Code:
Rank Automaker June 2011 % Change Year To Date YTD % Change
#1 BMW 3512 16.8 14,454 11.5
#2 Mercedes-Benz 3071 6.9 15,734 6.5
#3 Audi 1484 20.2 8819 18.8
#4 Buick 1134 23.1 5923 16.8
#5 Acura 1133 -21.3 6456 -19.8
#6 Lexus 903 -36.8 6492 -12.0
#7 Lincoln 815 -23.3 4009 -8.4
#8 Cadillac 804 12.8 4152 11.4
#9 Volvo 800 11.7 3657 7.5
#10 Mini 652 30.1 2440 16.9
#11 Infiniti 607 -25.0 3245 -17.3
#12 Land Rover 258 21.1 1433 13.0
#13 Porsche 242 34.4 1396 43.6
#14 smart 215 -7.7 1025 -8.4
#15 Jaguar 84 -20.0 400 1.0
#16 Saab 27 ----- 88 -----
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Lexus Fanatic
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1. The earthquake/tsunami affected certain parts of Japan more than others. Nissan's factories were not affected as much as Toyota, and especially Honda (who got hit the hardest).
2. Nissan has a much more diversified supplier chain.
3. Honda and Toyota scaled back incentives due to perceived inventory shortages. Nissan, on the other hand, has increased incentives in a big way. Especially on the cars that are in ample supply (Altima).
By the way, it looks like Toyota has started increasing incentives now that their factories are increasing production. Here in SoCal, they were offering an extra $1,000 cash back on most models during the 4th of July weekend. I have never seen them do that before.
2. Nissan has a much more diversified supplier chain.
3. Honda and Toyota scaled back incentives due to perceived inventory shortages. Nissan, on the other hand, has increased incentives in a big way. Especially on the cars that are in ample supply (Altima).
By the way, it looks like Toyota has started increasing incentives now that their factories are increasing production. Here in SoCal, they were offering an extra $1,000 cash back on most models during the 4th of July weekend. I have never seen them do that before.
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2011
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From: CA
Main thing with Toyota sales is they lowered incentives due to the question mark surrounding supply. The inventory has largely been there though. Lowering incentives made the cars more expensive than competition, which resulted in lower sales. There was a time when it was only the domestics who had to use incentives to move product, but it seems no longer are people willing to pay more for a Toyota.
This is in part because relatively the products are fairly lackluster. The Cruze, Focus and Elantra are far more modern than the Corolla, and the Camry suffers from a lackluster interior (an area where in previous Toyotas were always ahead of the class).
Ever since the introduction of the current Camry, sales have been in decline year after year. 2010 saw the lowest sales since 1995. The decline has gotten worse this year. Same goes for the Corolla (which came in with too little too late in 2009).
Lexus is different, they just have no inventory, let alone incentives. The Lexus brand though too is beginning to drag its feet. The competition (Audi, Mercedes, BMW) have been introducing new product constantly. Looking at BMW, they've got a new 1 series, 3 series (upcoming), X1, X3, 5 series (M5 and GT), 6 series (coupe and sedan) and 7 series. Essentially an all new lineup. Meanwhile we're still waiting for the new GS, IS, ES and LS. Not sure where all that money Toyota has in the bank goes towards, but they've been slow with new product, not just redesigns but new niches as well.
Lexus is lucky that cars like the IS have aged remarkably well (the brilliance of L-finesse), and that with a small facelift it can easily play with the best, even if it is 3 some years older than the current A4 and C-class. They need to stop focusing on entry level Toyota based hybrids though, and focus more on higher end RWD cars.
This is in part because relatively the products are fairly lackluster. The Cruze, Focus and Elantra are far more modern than the Corolla, and the Camry suffers from a lackluster interior (an area where in previous Toyotas were always ahead of the class).
Ever since the introduction of the current Camry, sales have been in decline year after year. 2010 saw the lowest sales since 1995. The decline has gotten worse this year. Same goes for the Corolla (which came in with too little too late in 2009).
Lexus is different, they just have no inventory, let alone incentives. The Lexus brand though too is beginning to drag its feet. The competition (Audi, Mercedes, BMW) have been introducing new product constantly. Looking at BMW, they've got a new 1 series, 3 series (upcoming), X1, X3, 5 series (M5 and GT), 6 series (coupe and sedan) and 7 series. Essentially an all new lineup. Meanwhile we're still waiting for the new GS, IS, ES and LS. Not sure where all that money Toyota has in the bank goes towards, but they've been slow with new product, not just redesigns but new niches as well.
Lexus is lucky that cars like the IS have aged remarkably well (the brilliance of L-finesse), and that with a small facelift it can easily play with the best, even if it is 3 some years older than the current A4 and C-class. They need to stop focusing on entry level Toyota based hybrids though, and focus more on higher end RWD cars.
Lexus Champion
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From: Canuckistan
Lexus Fanatic
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Then there is Rav4 early next year, followed by FR-S.
Thats 8-9 confirmed new products within next 8 months, including best sellers like Camry and Rav4 and Tacoma, which together have 40% of total Toyota USA sales.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Canuckistan
it is pretty silly to claim toyota is doing nothing about their "aging" lineup when we are 2 months away from start of sales for brand new 2012 Camry, with Tacoma, Prius v and Yaris launching until end of year, Lexus getting brand new GS and ES, as well as Scion getting iQ... all within next 6 months max.
Then there is Rav4 early next year, followed by FR-S.
Thats 8-9 confirmed new products within next 8 months, including best sellers like Camry and Rav4 and Tacoma, which together have 40% of total Toyota USA sales.
Then there is Rav4 early next year, followed by FR-S.
Thats 8-9 confirmed new products within next 8 months, including best sellers like Camry and Rav4 and Tacoma, which together have 40% of total Toyota USA sales.
Lexus Fanatic
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I'm not saying they're not doing anything, but with the current crop of vehicles the gap between Toyota products and competitors has become smaller than ever before. Sales have been reflecting this, everyone else is on the up in key segments while Toyota has been sliding year after year. This is not 2003 when the only real non half-assed competitor the Camry had to worry about was the Accord.
i dont think Toyota will be able ever again to reach almost half million sales of camry, competition with mid-sized and small cars is a lot bigger these days... just like F-150 wont get to 900k anymore.
keep in mind that while Camry and Corolla were both down in 2010, Toyota's sales were flat, with their SUVs going up 20%, so there was probably a lot of cross shopping there.
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2011
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From: CA
And none of those brands had a mass hysteria frenzy where the media claimed their cars took off on their own. The current Camry isn't as good as past models, but it's not woefully uncompetitive either and is about to end a long production run shortly.