Toyota wins the 2021 scepter in the US, thus dropping a 90-year record in the hands of General Motors. The Japanese auto giant sold 2.3 million vehicles in the United States last year, up 10.4% from 2020. GM sold 2.2 million in 2021, down 12.9% from the previous year. ‘last year. The difference in sales between the two automakers was 114,034 vehicles.
It was since 1931 that GM held the scepter of the automaker that sold the most vehicles in the nation. A shortage of chips weighed on GM and slowed production and left dealers with few cars to sell. Toyota, on the other hand, benefited from its semiconductor stocks but also from having bet before its rivals on the recovery of the American car market by reducing production less and thus finding itself in an advantageous position in the face of the recovery in demand.
But Toyota may not hold the top spot for a long time. “Throughout the year, we focused on delivering as many high-demand, limited-capacity products as possible, and the strategy worked,” said Steve Carlisle, GM’s vice president. “Our dealers and our engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and branding teams have moved mountains to satisfy as many customers as possible in 2021, despite the low inventory caused by semiconductor supply chain problems during the third and fourth quarters “.
Overall, it was a tough year for the industry and ended on a bitter note. Carmakers likely sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 12.5 million new vehicles in December, down 23% from a year earlier, according to the average forecast of six market researchers interviewed by Bloomberg.