May 2014: Toyota Motor Sales

[William Maley]

Toyota Motor Sales Reports Best Month In Six Years

• TMS no. 1 retail manufacturer; Camry, Corolla and Prius post double-digit gains

TORRANCE, Calif., June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported May 2014 sales results of 243,236 units, an increase of 12.6 percent from May 2013 on a daily selling rate (DSR) basis. On a raw-volume basis, unadjusted for 27 selling days in May 2014 versus 26 selling days in May 2013, TMS sales increased 17 percent from year-ago month.

Toyota division posted May 2014 sales of 216,315 units, up 12.2 percent year-over-year on a DSR basis. Volume-wise, Toyota division sales increased 16.5 percent over May 2013.

"Industry sales in May soared as consumer confidence improved and demand for new vehicles continued to strengthen," saidBill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager. "Toyota had its best month in six years led by strong Camry, Corolla and Hybrid sales."

Lexus reported May sales of 26,921 units, a 16.6 percent increase on a DSR basis and a 21.1 percent increase on a raw-volume basis, both year-over-year.

"The luxury vehicle market has been outperforming the overall industry so far this year and that continued in May," said Jeff Bracken, Lexus group vice president and general manager. "Lexus results during the month were up 21 percent as sales of our newest models, the IS and GX, more than doubled, and our core models, the ES and RX, also showed solid gains."

Other Highlights:

• Camry up over 26 percent with sales of almost 50,000 units
• All-new Corolla up 30.8 percent, best month since August 2009
• TMS hybrids up over 9 percent
• Prius up 14 percent with sales of 26,793 units
• Toyota division trucks up 11 percent
• All-new RAV4 leads trucks with sales of 23,465 units, up 13 percent
• All-new Highlander posts sales of 12,329 units
• 4Runner up 70 percent
• Sienna up nearly 13 percent
• Toyota pickups post sales of 25,267 units
• All-new Tundra up 14.5 percent
• Tacoma posts sales of nearly 14,000 units
• Lexus up over 21 percent
• All-new Lexus IS posts triple-digit gains for the sixth month in a row
• All-new Lexus ES up nearly 11 percent
• Lexus luxury utility vehicles up 20.2 percent
• Lexus RX up 8.7 percent
• Lexus GX posts triple-digit gains for the seventh month in a row

*Note: Unless otherwise stated, all figures reflect unadjusted raw sales volume

[A Horse With No Name]

Surprised to see Camry up this much in a tough segment.

[2QuickZ's]

They must have done a lot of fleet Camry dumping this month. 50K for the month? They can't produce anywhere near that amount per month so obviously that is not sustainable. It blows my mind how many Crapolla's they manage to sell every month. So many better cars in the segment that a Corolla wouldn't be anywhere near the top of my list.

[smk4565]

The Corolla is crap, but Toyota buyers know nothing about cars, they just assume that since it says Toyota it gets the best gas mileage and is the most reliable. When for a lot of years the Corolla had the worse mileage in the segment, and even midsizers like the Sonata and Altima were getting better gas mileage than the Corolla a couple years ago.

The Camry is a sales force, it has been for a long time, could be a while before someone figures out how to dethrone it. Unless a mid-size car comes out with 50 mpg and a bumper to bumper 10 year/100k mile warranty, I think the Camry will keep winning.

What is interesting is the 120% jump in the Lexus IS, that car used to never sell, and it is crushing the ATS and A4 right now. It could be that the old C-class has dropped off a little bit and once the new C-class arrives the IS will be toast, but for now the IS looks strong and it never did before.

[Cory Wolfe]

I cannot understand how Toyota can manage to move so many piles of $h!. Some are understandable, others like the Camry... The only explanation includes "firesale" and "rental whoring".

[Drew Dowdell]

Interesting how Scion isn't really in its own grouping anymore.

Lots of Toyotas in fleets lately from my observations while traveling. The Avalon is a good go-to car for my free luxury upgrade when a 300C or a Lacrosse isn't available.

Camries, Corollas, RAV-4s, Avalons, and Highlanders are all in the fleets lately. Nissan still has a bit of a stranglehold on the fleet in Chicago.

[A Horse With No Name]

Avalon is a nice piece. I still would prefer an Impala though.

[2QuickZ's]

Surprisingly there are a lot of Camry's and especially Corolla's on the rental lots in the Detroit area. Those same lots used to be dominated by Big 3 products.

Avalon is not a bad car but I think I would go Impala or 300 before Avalon. Impala for the overall package ad 300 for the style, RWD and V6/8 speed combo.

[smk4565]

I doubt the Camry is fleeted anymore than any of the Detroit 3's cars, the Camry i just a sales force and has been for about 20 years. Only Ford has gotten serious about the mid-size segment. The Avenger is almost all rental sales, the new Chrysler 200 sold less than 1/10th what the Camry sold. GM spends their money on developing trucks still, Hyundai/Kia stepped up their efforts from 10 years ago but they have sort of leveled off. Until these companies build a better car and then convince the public to buy it, the Camry will keep winning. I think Ford has done the best job at challenging the Cam-Cord duo.

[A Horse With No Name]

Surprisingly there are a lot of Camry's and especially Corolla's on the rental lots in the Detroit area. Those same lots used to be dominated by Big 3 products.

Avalon is not a bad car but I think I would go Impala or 300 before Avalon. Impala for the overall package ad 300 for the style, RWD and V6/8 speed combo.

Agreed. Esp with the refresh....I like the 300 much better post refresh.

[A Horse With No Name]

I doubt the Camry is fleeted anymore than any of the Detroit 3's cars, the Camry i just a sales force and has been for about 20 years. Only Ford has gotten serious about the mid-size segment. The Avenger is almost all rental sales, the new Chrysler 200 sold less than 1/10th what the Camry sold. GM spends their money on developing trucks still, Hyundai/Kia stepped up their efforts from 10 years ago but they have sort of leveled off. Until these companies build a better car and then convince the public to buy it, the Camry will keep winning. I think Ford has done the best job at challenging the Cam-Cord duo.

One thing to look at is how low the average transaction price is for a Camry. Lower than even the old Chrysler 200...if I recall correctly.

[A Horse With No Name]

Chevy is selling more Volts than Scion is XBs. Who would ave thought?

[2QuickZ's]

I doubt the Camry is fleeted anymore than any of the Detroit 3's cars, the Camry i just a sales force and has been for about 20 years. Only Ford has gotten serious about the mid-size segment. The Avenger is almost all rental sales, the new Chrysler 200 sold less than 1/10th what the Camry sold. GM spends their money on developing trucks still, Hyundai/Kia stepped up their efforts from 10 years ago but they have sort of leveled off. Until these companies build a better car and then convince the public to buy it, the Camry will keep winning. I think Ford has done the best job at challenging the Cam-Cord duo.

I don't think it fleets more than the Big 3 either but I would guess it is pretty close to on par with. Maybe 25-30%? Just guessing as I don't know. For sure Toyota is going out of their way to compete on price. Both of those things are something they didn't use to have to do. Since they are bailing on the Subie plant production of the Camry, maybe they are planning to pull back on fleet?

Avenger is dead, as is current 200. The new 200 is a much nicer car and while I'm sure it will still have a typical fleet percentage for the midsize category, I highly doubt it will turn out to be the fleet whore the current car is. Only time will tell, though.

[Drew Dowdell]

The new 200 is just barely rolling down the production line yet. I wouldn't really look at the sales of that seriously for a good 5 months