Toyota Motor Corporation is going to observe sales decline in the USA for the first time since 1995

For the first time since 1995, in the USA, Japan’s largest auto maker Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO: 7203) is facing sales decline. The USA is the largest market of Toyota, but the rising fuel price, coupled with subprime loan crisis, have affected the buying capacity of the consumers resulting into big slump in car sales.

Yesterday, at the Toyota shareholders meeting in Japan, Tokuichi Uranishi, Toyota Executive Vice President, announced that the company’s US sales could go below 2.62 million vehicles Toyota sold last year. Uranishi told the 3200 share holders that they were struggling in the US at the moment. Higher fuel price and the subprime loan crisis have cut the demand.

The rise of Toyota Motor Corporation in the USA is truly phenomenal. The company has been consistently growing in the region. According to Autodata Corp., the last sales decline happened in 1995. At that time, Toyota’s sales declined by 0.4% to 1.08 million. Freep.com

But as Toyota grew into a full-line manufacturer, offering a wide choice of pickups and SUVs, it became more exposed to overall economic conditions, said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power and Associates.

"They are really not in the ideal position for today's market conditions," Libby said. "If I had to pick a company that is in the ideal position of the marketplace right now, I would pick Honda, because they have no exposure to the upper end of the market, and Toyota does."

In 2008, Toyota’s sales target was 2.64 million vehicles. Currently, Toyota Prius and Toyota Yaris are the top selling vehicles of the company and it could hardly keep up with the demands of these two vehicles. Unfortunately, Toyota’s pickup and other large vehicle sales took a big blow. Few days ago, Toyota declared to cut its Tundra pickup production at its Princeton and Indiana plants. It also decided to stop production for 14 days at its San Antonio facility. The company has also cut down its imports from Japan.

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Hyundai Elantra SE scores “Excellent” in Consumer Reports’ road test

Hyundai Elantra SE has been chosen as the best car by the July issue of the famous US magazine for consumers, Consumer Reports. The Hyundai Elantra SE scored “Excellent” in the overall road test score by the Consumer Reports. Along with Hyundai Elantra SE, three other cars: Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza and Ford Focus achieved “very good” ratings. The test was conducted over a group of Sedans.

The redesigned Toyota Corolla achieved 32 mpg in the CR fuel economy test. This is the best gas mileage observed by CR in a conventional gasoline powered car with automatic transmission. The smaller Honda Fit scored similar gas mileage followed by Toyota Yaris, which achieved 33 mpg. infozine.com reports

Two Chevrolets were also tested as part of this group, the Cobalt and Aveo. Both ranked near the bottom of the pack. Among compact sedans, the Cobalt ranks 17th out of 19 vehicles tested. Among subcompacts, the Aveo ranks last among the 12 vehicles tested.

Prices for the six cars in CR's tests range from $16,205 for the subcompact Aveo LT to $19,106 for the Impreza 2.5i which is all wheel drive. Even with prices under $20,000, the best of today's small cars provide many convenience features, comfortable interiors, good refinement, and improved fuel economy.

You will get the full report in the July issue of Consumer Reports magazine that has gone on sale on June 3. The magazine conducted the test over 31 small sedans and 21 top used cars.

The Hyundai Elantra SE also took the top position in Consumer Report’s April issue. The car outperformed Honda Civic EX by one point. Compared to Honda Civic EX’s manual transmission, Hyundai Elantra SE comes with standard electronic stability control. This is a great safety feature of the car.

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Toyota Yaris is more popular than Toyota Prius

Yes, it is true. The green house effect and soaring price of fuel have put our lives in jeopardy and fuel efficient, eco-friendly hybrid cars are the choice of the season but there is a catch; MONEY. The hybrid cars come with a higher price tag which makes them out of rich for many people. Hence, traditional four cylinder cars are still dominating the highways. Even today in the USA, hybrids consist of 3% of the new cars sold and SUVs 14%. Canada.com reports:

The four-bangers account for 37 per cent of the U.S. market, up from 30 per cent just three years ago

The fact is that hybrids are still quite expensive -- $30,000-plus -- and no matter what the opinion surveys say about how green we have all become in our purchase choices, the bottom line is still the bottom line.

"For now, the easiest, cheapest way for new-car shoppers to get better mileage is to choose a model with a conventional four-cylinder engine. And they are," said Jason Rothkop, a J.D. Power and Associates analyst recently.

Toyota Prius from Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO: 7203) may be the most popular hybrid in the USA, it is facing serious competition from Toyota Yaris model. The little car saw an 83% rise in sales in March. Prius may not be so cheap but American people are buying more fuel efficient small cars. Compared to the USA, Canada people are more into small cars and if you are a resident of Canada you check the fuel efficiency of all cars in the region from the website: http://oee. nrcan.gc.ca. You can also obtain a hard copy of the Fuel Consumption Guide 2008.

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