For the period between January 1 and June 30, 2009, Toyota Motor Corp. continued its sales dominance over the global automotive industry. However, relative to its first-quarter pace, the rest of the industry has begun to catch up. Toyota reported today that it sold 3.56 million vehicles in the first half of 2009, while GM sold nearly as many - 3.55 million - during the same period. During the second quarter of 2009 - from April 1 through June 30 - Toyota sold 1.80 million vehicles while GM sold 1.94 million. Toyota’s units include its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen - which has aspirations to itself become the world’s largest automaker over the next several years that I’ve previously scoffed at - managed to sell a strong 3.1 million vehicles in the first half of the year. Helping VW is minimal exposure to the US market (while Toyota and GM are obviously heavily exposed to the US), so the company’s 16.4% US sales decline through June 30 in the US (including Audi) is not only better than the overall US market’s 35.1% decline, but also only costing the company a loss of 26,665 sales against the same period in 2008. Meanwhile, Toyota sold 469,640 fewer units in the US during the first half of 2009, while GM sold 641,717 fewer vehicles
2009 Comicon Photo Gallery
2009 Frankfurt Auto Show Photo Gallery
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