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Toyota overtakes Dodge as third best-selling truck maker in U.S. (If you can't Dodge it...)
www.autoblog.com ^ | 1-12-2009 | Staff

Posted on 01/13/2009 10:41:37 AM PST by Red Badger

As we all know by now, auto sales are down, dropping by around 18% in 2008. Pick-ups actually fared worse, posting a decline of 26.5% over the same period. Still, the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado maintained their positions as the two best selling vehicles in the United States, and these two manufacturers managed to post incremental increases in total pick-up truck market share after all was said and done.

Those increases came directly from the competition, especially Dodge. The full-size Ram truck managed to see its piece of the pie dwindle by almost one full percentage point. Dodge's drop in overall market share allowed Toyota, for the first time ever, to grab the bronze medal behind Ford and General Motors. However, it's not particularly good news for the Japanese upstart, which owns just 8.52% of the market after seeing Tundra sales fall by over 30% in '08 and well short of its stated goal of 200,000 units per year. The last place trophy goes to Nissan, as its 34,000 sales represent a meager 2.11% of the market.

These market share figures include both full-sizers and their smaller brethren, and it was the Toyota Tacoma and the aging Ford Ranger that made the biggest upward moves among the mid-size pick-ups. Again, the biggest loser award goes to Dodge, which saw its Dakota sales fall nearly 65%, and its Mitsubishi Raider stablemate, which posted an insignificant 2,900 total sales.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: automakers; chevy; f150; manufacturing; ram; topten; toyota; tundra
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To: BlueMondaySkipper

I hopes so, but not 3 or 4 years ago.

I own an oil-related company and buy lots of trucks. All the fleet Fords (heavy duty springs, white, stripped to A/C, radio, plastic flooring, vinyl sears, but with off-road skids pads etc) came from Mexico.

We primarily went with Toyota and some Nissan Titans, only buying Ford for the F-450s and the like.


101 posted on 01/13/2009 3:13:20 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama's Reichstag fire.)
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To: BlueMondaySkipper

You consider the UAW and the $400 Million they spent to elect a Kenyan to the highest office in the land American???????


102 posted on 01/13/2009 4:17:46 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: MeanWestTexan

That reminds me, how did the Titans work out for you? My client bought a couple for much the same work and they’ve held up outstandingly well.

Far better than the Fail-150s they replaced.


103 posted on 01/13/2009 4:18:48 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

The Titans did really well, mechanically.


104 posted on 01/13/2009 4:26:07 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama's Reichstag fire.)
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To: OKSooner

Later read.


105 posted on 01/13/2009 4:27:49 PM PST by OKSooner
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To: MeanWestTexan

I’m assuming better than the “domestic” products they replaced, correct?


106 posted on 01/13/2009 4:27:53 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Red Badger
I got a brandy new one of these in 4x4 for under $20K last week.

107 posted on 01/13/2009 4:38:53 PM PST by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: Spktyr

You really are ignorant about trade aren’t you? In order to sell cars in China, you must manufacture in China...plus China owns a piece of the company...they are still communist despite what some of you seem to think. In order to get cars in Germany, you have to manufacture in Germany-Mexico is the same despite the much loved NAFTA...now why don’t you pay attention (seriously don’t mean to unkind or rude) because if you are going to call for the death of an entire industry and bash American products while promoting foreign made goods, you ought to know what you are talking about. I get sick and tired hearing from people who know jack about the auto industry spouting off about American products- come on, you think the Tundra is a great truck-enough said.


108 posted on 01/13/2009 5:17:07 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: bronxboy

Actually, I don’t think much about the Tundra one way or the other. Go through all my posts - I don’t ever recommend it to anyone.

As for “have to build cars in Germany to sell in Germany,” then why is it that one of the best selling cars in Germany is built in Belgium (Audi A3), another one is made in Slovakia and Spain (VW Polo) and another is made in Spain (Opel Corsa)?

Of the top ten cars sold in Germany, half of them aren’t even made in Germany!!!!

As for China.... pray explain, then, why the second-best selling Buick in China isn’t made in China or the US, but in Australia?

Someone here doesn’t know jack about the car industry. And it’s not me.


109 posted on 01/13/2009 5:33:57 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: MeanWestTexan

Ah-more union derangement syndrome. UAW workers are American that you disagree with...many believe the GOP has sent them to hell already-unfair trade hell-you know union guys are really family people. They have far more in common with the GOP then Dems...but this is another voting block discarded by the GOP who now find themselves in the minority. Reagan had a word for the blue collar worker-mostly union-Reagan Democrats.

If Obama had to depend on union voters to win this election, we would be inaugurating President McCain. The unions are on the ropes-huge decline in union numbers. We ought to start thinking about how to win voters back instead of pissing off voters in battleground states.


110 posted on 01/13/2009 5:36:16 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: Spktyr; All

Audi and Opel have plants in Germany. In fact Opel is about to get a bailout from Germany. GM has plants in China...you get the picture. All the companies you describe manufacture in Germany and sell in Germany even cars made outside of Germany...Same with GM in China...we have plants in China. Thus we can sell in China-even some cars not made in China.

Now let’s look at Korea...Korea has been kicked out of China...they can’t sell Korean cars in China-no plants. China felt they were a threat-bye bye Korea. You see I do know jack about the auto industry. Although, this comment on my part was rude...you made a reasonable post. I should have responded more politely-mea culpa, mea culpa.

I apologize if I was unpleasant, but I am sick and tired of hearing the big three bashed relentlessly by some conservatives...I have worked in the Auto industry 25 years and I get impatient when I post something that is completely true and people refuse to believe it because they hate American cars so much.

Here’s the truth about Toyota quality...by the way the tailgate falls off because the Toyota morons don’t understand how people use trucks-they stand on the tailgates...they didn’t reinforce them and used cheap materials...kind of the usual thing for Toyota these days. They are living off their past good reputation because the cars are really crappy now especially the Tundra. If you google Tundra quality, you will see other issues in the last couple of years.

The Tundra, really it sucks. Don’t buy it. I’m not just saying this...because I work for GM either.
http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/toyota-tundra-news/32830-toyota-tundra-hit-two-more-quality-issues.html

Last Tuesday the Toyota Tundra was kicked off the Consumer Reports “Recommended” list for achieving below average predicted reliability scores from its own owners. It appears, however, that the Tundra’s week is about to get worse. With the help of Mike Levine from Pickuptruck.com, we’re following two separate stories about Tundra quality issues that have surfaced recently. The first involves the Tundra’s transmission, with at least ten owners at TundraSolutions.com reporting that their trannies experience rough shifts that make the truck feel like it’s riding over rumble strips. The ‘rumble strip’ transmission issue has been acknowledged by Toyota North America and traced back to the torque converter not disengaging properly. Owners report having their transmissions replaced with new or remanufactured ones, though Toyota told Levine that going forward the automaker would only replace the torque converter itself. Toyota did not say, however, how many trucks are affected, just that the transmission problem is not a safety or design issue.

The second quality issue sprouted up this past weekend, also on TundraSolutions.com, and involves tailgates that have been failing or, in some cases, even falling off. The most common experience seems to be the tailgate itself forming cracks and the metal buckling when under load. One owner reported that his tailgate failed when loading an ATV into the bed for the very first time. The tailgate being such an integral part of owning a truck, members of TS have begun an online petition, which they hope will force Toyota to recognize the issue and do something about it. The petition has attracted 125 signatures so far. Levine from Pickuptruck.com has also asked Toyota about these potentially failing tailgates and is waiting for a response.

Yes, the Toyota Tundra has had a very rough week, but it’s no more difficult than the time Tundra owners spend with trucks that don’t work as advertised.


111 posted on 01/13/2009 5:58:02 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: Spktyr

By the way, we laughed ourselves silly about the Tundra tailgate-truly a rookie mistake. We had the thing in to look at it...and the stupid thing broke in a matter of days during our testing. Word is that American engineers working for Toyota tried to tell Toyota this would be a problem, but American engineers are viewed as stupid Americans and not listened to much.


112 posted on 01/13/2009 6:02:43 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: Spktyr

Here’s the other story about Honda...not everyone likes their cars...these are owners.

http://seductiveautosports.tripod.com/honda%20haters.htm


113 posted on 01/13/2009 6:20:59 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: dilvish

See my post concerning Japanese quality...I would say Toyota and Honda have some crappy cars...go figure. Hope you don’t own a Tundra...the transmissions suck and the tailgate falls off. LOL


114 posted on 01/13/2009 6:23:11 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: Citizen Blade

You may make money on Toytota stocks...not likely in my opinion- but the fact remains this is not profit...the profits are at Toyota headquarters in JAPAN.


115 posted on 01/13/2009 6:25:05 PM PST by bronxboy
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To: 12Gauge687
A Marine friend put 280,000 miles on his little blue Toyota SR5 2WD pickup. He’d still be driving it if it wasn’t for his wife’s insistence on an automatic.

The first vehicle I ever bought was a 1985 Toyota SR5 2wd. I put 110,000 miles on it, then sold it to my mother for $500. It still had the original belts and hoses on it, and they looked brand new. My mother drove it for 2 years, then gave it to my sister. She drove it for 3 years and gave it back to my mother, who drove it for several more years, then sold it to a fellow for $500 when it had about 200,000 miles on it. As far as I know, he's still driving it. In all the time it was in my family, we never had to do anything to it beyond routine maintenance.

116 posted on 01/14/2009 4:49:10 AM PST by Renfield (Turning apples into venison since 1999!)
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To: Spktyr
You consider the UAW and the $400 Million they spent to elect a Kenyan to the highest office in the land American???????

Well, since my F-150 is a 2004 model and Nobama was in Junior High then, the answer would be no.

I chose the best vehicle available for MY needs. I'm sure if I would have bought a Toyota (inferior product then and now) the UAW would have still made exactly the same investment in Nobama.

117 posted on 01/14/2009 5:56:05 AM PST by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: bronxboy

They make a crappy product, plus they fund the DNC.

I refuse to buy crap and fund them.


118 posted on 01/14/2009 6:37:43 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama's Reichstag fire.)
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To: Spktyr

It’s hard to say. We didn’t have problems, but then, we didn’t have the new models to compare to.

The younger hands certainly preferred them, and keeping them happy is important.


119 posted on 01/14/2009 6:39:23 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama's Reichstag fire.)
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To: bronxboy

American cars have improved, they’re pretty much even with the Nips now. Of course they still have to fix their reputation from 25 solid years of shipping crap. Even with the quality improvement I never find the fit and feel of the Detroit 3 to be satisfying. Meanwhile my 92 Sentra, which is no longer mine because I got sick of looking at it so I gave it to my BIL, has over 240 thousand miles on it and is still reliable enough for the occasional trip to Phoenix.

Either way, people buy what they chose. Blaming the customer has never improved sales.


120 posted on 01/14/2009 7:10:26 AM PST by dilvish
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