According to CNBC's report on Tuesday, GM is no longer the company with the highest car sales in the United States. The Detroit giant lost to Toyota. Toyota will sell about 114,000 more vehicles than General Motors in 2021.
GM reported Tuesday that total sales fell nearly 13 percent last year due to a shortage of semiconductors. Chip shortages have made production difficulties for both auto and tech companies around the world, and GM has had to cut some of its cars' features, such as wireless chargers and high-definition radios, due to supply issues.
But things are improving for GM — GM says the chip situation is improving. "By 2022, we plan to take advantage of the strong economy and the expected improvement in semiconductor supply to increase our sales and share. We will also further strengthen our leading position in the truck industry and begin to achieve a leading position in electric vehicles in North America." Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said in a statement. A major focus for the company now is to strengthen its EV lineup with new Hummer electric vehicles ,which have already begun to be delivered, as well as upcoming Silverado and Denili electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, while Toyota had to cut some production last year due to chip shortages, production of many cars hit record years. According to a press release, the top U.S. automaker leads sales of Camry sedans, RAV4 SUVs and Sienna minivans. The company also reported that it was "the number one seller of electric vehicle sales for 22 consecutive years" — though it hasn't actually delivered an all-electric vehicle yet.