Toyota sold 222,782 vehicles last month, a 0.2% decline on a daily-selling-rate basis, although the automaker notes it had its best first-quarter results in a decade.
In the January-March period, Toyota delivered 572,033 vehicles, a 7.4% volume increase from Q1 2017 and the best tally since 2008’s 571,748, Wards Intelligence data shows.
Given still-strong economic indicators in terms of housing starts and consumer confidence, Toyota is calling for a 16.8 million seasonally adjusted annual rate for the U.S. auto industry this year, although it could go higher.
“There’s nothing that says we don’t get back to 17 million (SAAR),” Jack Hollis, group vice president-Toyota Div., tells media this morning during a conference call to discuss March and Q1 results.
Toyota’s own 2018 goal is 2.8 million sales across North America.
Toyota Div. sales were up 0.8% DSR (there was one more selling day in March 2018 vs. March 2017). Hollis notes Toyota’s fleet sales fell 18% in March, as the automaker pulled ahead Camry deliveries to rental fleets in January and February.
Lexus deliveries fell 6.7% on an adjusted basis as luxury sedan and coupe sales continue to decline.
In what is becoming a bit of a broken record, Toyota’s RAV4 and Highlander CUVs once again set all-time records for a given month.
The RAV4 tallied a March-best 34,937 sales while the Highlander notched 21,438 deliveries. The RAV4’s result was good for a 5.2% DSR increase and the Highlander climbed 14.5% on an adjusted basis.
Despite the RAV4’s strong showing last month, the Camry still was Toyota’s No.1-selling model, with 35,264 sales. However, in a potential warning sign for the midsize sedan going forward, that result represents a 4.6% DSR decline and a 1.1% volume loss from March 2017.
The Camry’s rival, the equally new Honda Accord, has experienced underwhelming sales. To ease inventory, Honda has announced it will idle the Accord line in Marysville, OH, on 11 days over the next four months.
The Tacoma midsize and Tundra large pickups were the only other Toyota light trucks in the black in March. Still, the 113,168 Toyota light trucks sold in the month and the 296,819 delivered in Q1 were record results, the automaker says.
The Toyota C-HR small CUV, which wasn’t on sale in March 2017, tallied 5,253 sales. That is the best monthly sales for the vehicle since its debut in April 2017, Wards Intelligence data shows.
“It’s literally every single month getting stronger,” Hollis says of the C-HR, adding Toyota still is considering additions to its utility-vehicle lineup given U.S. light-vehicle sales are heading toward a 70/30 light-truck-to-car ratio. Last year, Toyota’s Bill Fay told WardsAuto the FT-4X concept from the 2017 New York auto show could spawn another small CUV for the brand’s lineup.
Toyota cars, continuing to struggle as Americans embrace utility vehicles, fell 9.4% on a DSR basis in March. Other than the Camry, the Avalon large sedan was the only other model in positive territory, rising 12.6%.
The Yaris subcompact lineup suffered a 45.9% loss in sales last month, while the low-volume 86 sports car and Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car each suffered losses in the 32.0% range.
Total Corolla sales dipped 7.4% and Prius sales fell 18.8%.
Lexus sales dropped 6.7% on an adjusted basis to 27,032.
Although the luxury brand recorded record best March and best Q1 results for its utility vehicles, it wasn’t enough to offset a 16.3% falloff in car sales.
All Lexus car nameplates were down save for the LS. The recently redesigned Lexus flagship sedan saw sales climb 162.7% on a DSR basis, albeit on relatively low volume of 1,008 units.
While Lexus says it recorded record March light-truck sales of 18,530, on an adjusted basis its four-model lineup (NX, RX, GX, LX) dipped 1.5%.
January-March volume for the two CUVs and two SUVs rose 10.7% to 45,085.
Hollis notes Toyota continues to have some of the lowest incentive levels in the industry, but Jeff Bracken, group vice president-Lexus, tells media his brand “will do what we need to do to ensure we keep ourselves competitive.” Luxury incentives typically are higher than those on mass-market vehicles, with German premium brands in particular aggressive on spiffs.
Toyota ended March with a 63-days’ supply of vehicles and Lexus a 58-days’ supply, with Toyota inventory weighted toward light trucks and Lexus’ toward cars, a spokeswoman for the automaker tells WardsAuto.
