According to the New York Times, Toyota sold a total of 2.3 million vehicles in the United States in 2021, an increase of more than 10%, successfully surpassing General Motors to become the highest-selling automaker in the U.S. market. This is the first overseas automaker in the nearly 120-year history of the U.S. auto industry to achieve this achievement. For GM, for the first time since 1931, it lost the U.S. market sales champion.
Missing core exam
The data shows that in the second quarter of last year, Toyota surpassed GM for the first time with a slight advantage of 5116 more vehicles. Subsequently, Toyota won the championship again in the third quarter of last year with a huge advantage of 122,800 more vehicles. In the end, Toyota sold 2.332 million light vehicles in the United States in 2021, an increase of 10% year-on-year, and successfully won the top car sales in the United States in 2021. GM sold 2.203 million units in the U.S. last year, down 13 percent year-on-year.
"The dominance of U.S. automakers in the U.S. market has just ended." Eric Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan who focuses on the automotive industry, said, "Toyota may not beat GM again in 2022, but they have done it, and it symbolizes a change in the industry." U.S. automakers can no longer rely on their American identity to take market share for granted. ”
According to the German "Der Spiegel" weekly report, the main reason for the change in the ranking of the head car companies in the United States is the shortage of chip supply, which has caused a heavy blow to GM, and car sales in 2021 will fall by 13%. "Der Spiegel" pointed out that in 2021, the global automotive industry is affected by the shortage of chips, and major car companies have reduced production or stopped production to varying degrees, and Toyota is no exception. But given the lessons from the Fukushima accident, Toyota has maintained high inventories in recent years, so it can buffer the impact of supply chain disruptions better than competitors. In addition, General Motors is currently facing an electrification transformation, and since September last year, its best-selling electric vehicle Bolt has been suspended due to maintenance recalls, which has affected sales to some extent.
Temporary victory
Jessica Caldwell, an automotive analyst at Edmonds Automotive Professional, said the change in the head of the market may not last long. She pointed out that compared to Toyota, GM has a larger supply and has more brands in its collection.
In the fourth quarter of last year, with the improvement in the supply of GM chips, both production and wholesale sales increased significantly compared with the third quarter.
In this regard, Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said that with the strengthening of the US economy and the gradual improvement of chip supply, GM's sales and market share will increase in 2022. In addition, GM will also launch the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, as well as the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, and begin to vigorously enter the electric vehicle market.
In addition, under the leadership of GM CEO Mary Bora, GM has placed more emphasis on profitability rather than production in recent years and has pulled out loss-making markets such as Europe and Russia. A GM spokesperson noted that models with higher profit margins, such as large SUVs or pickups, are very popular. As long as the chip supply situation improves, the overall sales situation will also pick up. He said: "If I were Toyota, I wouldn't have tattooed the victor now. ”
However, Toyota has also been calm about its victory in the battle for the top spot. Toyota's vice president of North America said in a low profile: "Yes, we did surpass GM in sales. But we must make it clear that this is not our goal and we do not believe that this performance is sustainable. ”
Hyundai Kia and Ford are catching up
In addition to Toyota surpassing General Motors, the Hyundai Kia Group also witnessed history. For the first time, the group surpassed Honda in the U.S. market, ranking fifth in the sales charts.
While Hyundai-Kia's sales grew negatively by 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, sales for the full year 2021 increased by 21.6 percent year-on-year and also set a record high of 1.489 million vehicles sold in the U.S. thanks to the excellent performance of the previous three quarters. Forbes pointed out that Hyundai Kia Group, with the new Elantra and Tucson, has seen rapid sales growth in the mass market. At the same time, the group's luxury brand Genisesy has also brought new growth points.
At the same time, the performance of ford, once the "big brother" of the United States, is also quite eye-catching. In the fourth quarter of last year, Ford became the best-selling car company in the U.S. light vehicle market with sales of 504,000 units, and the only car company to sell more than 500,000 units.
Automotive News pointed out that since the second half of 2021, Ford's sales have shown a gradual upward trend, and the improvement in chip supply is the main reason why Ford can counterattack. At the same time, Ford also said that the inventory at the beginning of this year is very sufficient, which can be said to be the "best inventory situation in the industry".
"Forbes" believes that Ford may regain the "top spot" in the US market. Ford is one of the most rapidly electrified brands in the United States. At the end of last year, Ford won the second place in the sales volume of the NEW ENERGY VEHICLE market in the United States with the Mustang Mach-E, although there is still a gap compared with Tesla. However, as the U.S. new energy vehicle market opens an acceleration mode, In 2022, Ford's sales will continue to open a high-speed growth model.