The US Sales King Goes Down! That might be a better headline when talking about how Toyota just beat GM in sales in the US.
The home turf has been dominated by General Motors since the time of the Great Depression, but outside influences and a strong push from Toyota changed that for 2021. After the final numbers were tallied, Toyota was the winner in both fourth-quarter sales and for the entire year, putting General Motors I the second spot for the first time in many decades.
Was it an Even Playing Field?
One of the most important reasons that GM fell short of the sales champion was due to the shortage of semiconductor chips. While it seems this shortage should have impacted Toyota just as much, there might be some secret sauce that the Japanese brand employed to ensure they had a smooth flow of these chips that were such a problematic issue for other brands all year long. Did Toyota have a stockpile of these chips, or were they a favorite benefactor of suppliers and were able to get the necessary chips before other companies? It’s also possible GM is simply trying to find an excuse.
Sales Were Down As Expected
GM
The fourth-quarter sales numbers reported for General Motors came in showing a 43 percent drop from the year before. The total number for the final quarter of the year was 440,740 new models sold. For the entire year, the decline was 13 percent to a total of 2.2 million new cars sold.
Toyota
The grand total of new models sold by Toyota during the fourth quarter of 2021 was 474,378 models, which represents a decline of 28 percent compared to the previous year. The total for the entire year showed a decline of 10.4 percent to 2.3 million vehicles sold by Toyota.
While not massive differences in numbers, it’s plain to see that Toyota found a way to sell more new vehicles than GM during 2021.
Punches Thrown As GM Plans to Come Up Off the Mat
Spokespeople for both companies have taken to the newsfeeds and stated what you would expect them to when it comes to this change in the top spot. For GM, the message is that Toyota shouldn’t get comfortable; GM plans to come back and take the top spot once again, treating 2021 as an anomaly in the market, not a typical year.
On the other side, Toyota claims they don’t plan to back down, and they are positioned to continue to deliver strong sales and keep their lead in the market.
Will New Models Be the Story for Toyota?
Heading into 2022, Toyota is prepared to give the sales fight a strong showing with a variety of new models that will be part of this next year. The brand is poised to bring us 21 all-new, refreshed, or special edition models this year, which could mean an enticing new Toyota is going to be right for you when you get ready to purchase your next vehicle. Will this be the foundation that Toyota will use to keep the top spot for a second consecutive year?
Are We Premature in Crowning a Champion?
The news that Toyota outsold GM came out in the first couple days of the year before Ford or Stellantis (Chrysler) reported their sales numbers. Is it fair to crown Toyota without these numbers? The fact that General Motors has been the top-selling automaker since the 1930s certainly suggests that we can make this assumption, but without the rest of the data, we might see a surprise on the horizon, but that seems unlikely.
What Were the Top-Selling Vehicles for GM?
As you might expect, the two top-selling models under the GM umbrella were the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. These trucks have been extremely popular and lead the way, giving GM the profits desired and customers the power and performance needed to get the job done. Combined, these two trucks were responsible for 778,689 models that were sold, but that number is down from 2020. With inventory numbers on the rise, sales in 2022 should be on the rise and might show record increases when we get to the end of this year.
Yes, Toyota Did Have a Secret Sauce
Toyota found a way to win the sales race by having one of the most efficient distribution systems in the market, which allowed sales to increase in areas where other automakers were seeing dramatic losses. Yes, Toyota did stockpile computer chips, which was an extremely smart move when we look back on what happened, but eventually, the chip shortage did catch up with Toyota when the stockpile dwindled. This was when the brand had to make its own production cuts, which came much later than the production cuts of GM and other domestic brands.
A Different Group of Top Sellers
With GM selling more trucks than any other vehicle type, Toyota had a different formula for success. The models that were the biggest sellers for the Toyota brand were the Camry, RAV4, Highlander, and Tacoma. Yes, one is a truck, but it’s not in the same class as the Sierra and Silverado. The other models you see should not surprise you at all. We’ve relied on the Camry, RAV4, and Highlander to be excellent on the road for many years.
Will There Be a Repeat?
Toyota has won the sales war for 2021, but a new war has already begun as the calendar has turned and we welcome in 2022. Will this brand be the one that tops the US sales list once again, or will one of the domestic names take or retake the top spot? Is this honor there for GM to grab once again, or will there be another problem, pandemic-related or not, that will become the crutch that GM rests on as the reason why they have allowed another company to come into their sandbox and push them around?
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