Toyota Making Inroads in American Market

Toyota is focusing more and more on the American market. The American auto market was traditionally dominated by American car makers like GM and Ford. These companies are still strong in USA but Toyota is gradually making inroads here. 2006 was a good year for Toyota.

Delaware Online reported:

But even as GM and DaimlerChrysler showed modest progress, Toyota posted the biggest gains in the U.S. retail market. It grabbed 2.5 points to end the year at 17.5 percent, passing Ford for the first time for the No. 2 spot, behind GM. Honda Motor Co. increased its U.S. retail market share by a half-point to 10.9 percent.

In overall U.S. sales, retail and fleet, Toyota passed DaimlerChrysler for the No. 3 spot, behind GM and Ford.

The long-standing focus by Toyota and especially Honda on retail sales while avoiding heavy reliance on fleet sales has helped strengthen their brands, Libby said. The image and resale value of their vehicles are kept high because the market is not flooded with fleet models, he said.

It is a reality that it will take still some years for Toyota to become the market leader in the US. However, Toyota is progressing at a fast pace in the American auto market and this is a scary development for GM and Ford.