Archive for April, 2010

Toyota Incentives Continue as GM Trucks Face Possible Recall

Friday, April 9th, 2010

In an effort to maintain sales momentum from March, Toyota USA has extended incentives until May 3rd. Incentives, which include deals for five years of 0% financing and free maintenance were slated to expire earlier this past Monday, April 5th. The 0% offer no longer applies to the Highlander and the Rav4, but six other models, including the Toyota Tundra, are still applicable.

Of course, the incentives were originally put in place in an effort to stem losses suffered as a result of continued recall fallout. It worked like a charm, as Toyota benefited from a 41% increase in sales when you compare 2010 March sales to those from the previous year. Unfortunately for Toyota, March was a good month for carmakers and dealers in general. GM also saw phenomenal March sales, with numbers up 43% from 2009. While sales seemed to be cooling off across the board by the end of the month, Toyota might have a slightly easier time fending off mounting competition from GM as 6 million older Chevy and GMC trucks are now facing the possibility of recall.

Toyota Sales Rise Despite Recall Woes

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Despite continuing recall woes, Toyota has managed to see significant sales growth for the month of March. With the help of generous incentives, and a price war that has brought car buyers to dealerships hoping to take advantage of rarely seen deals, Toyota has sold 41% more vehicles last month than it did in March of 2009. That’s also a substantial gain from February, which saw sales fall by 9% when news coverage of safety concerns surrounding Toyota models (both recalled and not recalled) was at its peak. One hot particularly hot seller in March was the RAV4, of which 22,000 were sold. That’s 15,500 more sold than in the month prior. Building upon the encouraging news, Toyota president, Akio Toyoda and company are now heavily focused on repairing the brand’s reputation and regaining the trust of consumers worldwide, as evidenced by a press conference and media tour of safety facilities earlier this week at Toyota’s Japanese headquarters. They’re going to have do whatever they can to keep cars selling, especially considering the company’s mounting legal bills and public relations expenses.