Skip to main content

ads1

Toyota Sticking To Demure Script. Ford Who?

Toyota Motor Sales U.S. chief Jim Lentz wouldn't comment about whether he thought Toyota would surpass Ford Motor Co. in market sharethis year, and said it really doesn't matter.

"We don't adjust our plans based on their performance," Lentz said. "I'm not going to, as the head of Toyota, make bad business decisions just to chase someone else."

He added that Toyota doesn't advertise its ranking for specific products, and doesn't believe it's something that customers care about.

That's not what Ford thinks. "People don't care too much about whether their car is the top brand, but in pickups, that's not the case...truck buyers like to know they are part of a winner," says Ford Division marketing chief Barry Engle.

Ford is the top pickup truck brand in the U.S., but that is in large part because General Motors splits up its full-size pickup trucks sales between the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. Combined, GM outsells Ford.

Toyota closed 2006 with a market share of 13.3%, while Ford closed at 17.4% Toyota could easily top 14% this year, especially with the added volume of its redesigned Tundra pickup, and Ford says it expects to be between 14% and 15% this year as it dials down rental fleet sales and forecasts lower truck and SUV sales.

Ford nosed out Chevy for total sales in 2006, but it was a hollow victory considering the downsizing Ford is under going. It's a tough historical marker to consider that Ford will bow to both Chevy and Toyota in the same year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Drive: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Previews Greenie spendthrifts wanted: A heavier, slower Civic with a smaller trunk. Oh, yeah, and it costs 50 percent more. Never mind that we in Michigan are just emerging from our igloos after a long cold winter. The world is heating up, the ice caps are melting, and when that melt is complete, we’ll all be living high in the mountains in houses on stilts to stay dry. Forty days and 40 nights the waters will rage, and when the ice caps refreeze, we’ll all be fighting over who called first dibs on those last two pigs for our celebratory barbecues, since the unicorns were already eaten by sharks. There are people who would argue that that sinister little creation, the automobile, is responsible for it all. We blame Al Gore, China, sweatshops, and greenie celebrities who flit about in private jets. Those who want to make a difference drive hybrids, while those who researched their decision drive diesels. Those who are truly enlightened and want to make a difference, however, seek someth...
10 comments
Read more

Ford Offers Sneak Peek at New Mondeo

BRENTWOOD, England — Ford has released teaser images of its new Mondeo in advance of the car's world debut at the 2007 Geneva Auto Show. The vehicle should be of major interest to U.S. buyers, even though the car initially will only go on sale in Europe this summer, since it is one of several vehicles under consideration by the Dearborn automaker for launch in America. Just as Saturn has done with the Astra, sister car to the Opel Astra, Ford is taking a hard look at whether its European models, such as the Mondeo , would be appealing to American buyers who have shown a decided distaste for products like the Ford Five Hundred. The Five Hundred was recently renamed the Taurus in a bid to boost the vehicle's showroom traffic. The Mondeo is said to be one of several vehicles being studied for a U.S. launch at the behest of Ford's new president and CEO Alan Mulally. The new Mondeo goes upscale, apparently adopting design cues from sister brand Jaguar. It will be offered in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2013 GMC Acadia (Denali, SLT) review

The new 2013 GMC Acadia SUV GMC unveiled the new 2013 Acadia and Acadia Denali at the Chicago Auto Show, highlighting a new exterior and safety features including the industry’s first front center air bag. 2013 GMC Acadia SLT photo Acadia, which launched in 2007 as GMC’s first crossover and defined a segment that has since surged in popularity, had the best sales in its five-year history in 2011. The Denali model, added in mid-2010, broadened Acadia’s appeal to luxury customers with its combination of functionality and style. 2013 GMC Acadia SLT photo “With an award-winning combination of space, capability and fuel-efficiency, Acadia epitomizes GMC’s ‘never say never’ attitude,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of GMC Marketing. “For 2013, our engineers and designers applied that same attitude to developing the new Acadia.” 2013 GMC Acadia Denali photo Acadia retains the interior functionality popular with families, including the SmartSlide seating ...
Post a Comment
Read more