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Automotive Consumer
AUTOS: Toyota Sales Slipped In January
Recalls and sales stoppage take their toll on the monthly results; most other automakers show rise.
Bob Golfen  |  Posted February 02, 2010   Detroit, MI
Toyota's popular Camry was one of the eight models recalled on January 21 for an accelerator-pedal problem. (Photo: Toyota)
January sales for Toyota, stricken by the recall and sales stoppage of eight of its most popular models, dropped 16 percent compared with January 2009.

The Lexus division, which was not part of the sticky-accelerator recall, rose five percent while Toyota Division sales sank 19 percent.

The January 21 recall, which resulted in a halt of sales and production for the eight Toyota models, affected 2.3 million cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. and two million in Europe and China. The recall also stopped in its tracks Toyota’s booming recovery from last year’s sales slowdown.

The world’s automakers released their January sales results today, which showed a tepid recovery overall. Most numbers were up, but only in comparison with the recession-battered results for January 2009.

While sales have improved, they are nowhere near the 16-17 million annual sales rates of the mid decade. Automotive analysts expect an annualized sales rate for January of 10.5-11 million.

For Toyota, January sales were the worst in more than a decade.

“The Toyota recall stopped sales for about 55 percent of the company’s models, causing its monthly sales to drop below 100,000 for the first time since January 1999,” said Ray Zhou, senior analyst for Edmunds.com. “However, we expect that Toyota will make a full recovery fairly quickly.”

Ford had its fourth monthly increase in a row, moving up 25 percent compared with last January. General Motors sales rose 14 percent, while Chrysler sustained yet another loss of eight percent. Honda was down five percent, Nissan rose 16 percent and Hyundai saw another monthly increase, at 13 percent.

Volkswagen Group continued its surge with a 40 percent gain and Subaru, the only major automaker that has consistently gained in U.S. sales during the past two years, rose 28 percent, compared with a strong January 2009.

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