Tagged: toyota

For those of you keeping score at home, it's GM 9,030,000 to Toyota's 7,900,000 for 2011.

Those are "around" numbers for the number of vehicles sold in 2011 by the automakers from the Associated Press.

GM has retaken a crown it owned for 77 years before Toyota snatched it away in 2008.

Since that time, Volkswagen has been an up and comer as well. That company is the no. 2 automaker. It sold around 8,160,000 vehicles last year.

But some argue there's some fuzzy math going on to make GM the "top automaker" in the world.

More from the Associated Press:

Some analysts have said that VW is the world's biggest automaker because GM's figures include vehicles made by its Wuling joint venture in China. Many don't count Wuling because GM doesn't have controlling interest in the company, but GM includes it in global sales figures.

Excluding Wuling, GM would have been topped by Volkswagen.

Being the world's top-selling automaker doesn't mean much for the bottom line. But GM retaking the title is an example of how far the company has come since its 2009 bankruptcy.

Bloomberg Business Week's Tim Higgins quotes one analyst saying the top automaker crown means "bragging rights" and might help with stock prices.

Higgins writes GM's stock did go up with the news, but the stock would have to go up significantly before the U.S. government would break even on its investment:

GM rose 0.5 percent to $24.63 at 11:26 a.m. New York time.

The U.S. government still owns almost a third of GM. The government would have to sell its stake at an average of $53 a share to break even. GM earned $6.17 billion in 2010 and $8.47 billion in the first nine months of last year.

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota says it aims to sell 8.48 million vehicles next year as it attempts a comeback from a year battered by the March disaster in Japan and the flooding in Thailand.

Toyota said in a release Thursday that its target for calendar 2012, which does not include group companies, would represent 20 percent growth from its global sales this year.

The manufacturer behind the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models said it plans to sell 8.95 million vehicles around the world in 2013.

Toyota has sharply downgraded its expectations for what it will earn in the fiscal year that ends in March.

Toyota expects a net profit of $2.3 billion for the fiscal year. That’s less than half the profit it predicted in August.

The automaker is blaming a strong yen, which makes its vehicles less competitive on prices, outside of Japan.

It’s also blaming recent heavy flooding in Thailand, which disrupted the distribution of auto parts.

Toyota announced a voluntary recall today of roughly 550,000 vehicles worldwide in response to a possible issue with  a crankshaft pulley that could effect steering. The majority of the recalled vehicles are in the United States.

The Associated Press reports:

Toyota's U.S. sales unit said in a statement Wednesday that if the problem isn't corrected, there is a possibility the belt for the power steering pump may become detached from the pulley.

The recall affects 283,200 Toyota brand cars and 137,000 Lexus vehicles in the United States, including the 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander and Sienna.

Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett said some 38,000 cars are being recalled in Japan, as well as 25,000 in Australia and New Zealand. Corbett said there have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problems.

Officials from Toyota Motor Corporation say the company will start selling robots that help elderly and sick people. The Associated Press reports the company is "aiming for commercial products sometime after 2013."

From the Associated Press:

Toyota unveiled its ambitions for high-tech health care Tuesday, displaying experimental robots that the auto giant says can lift disabled patients from their hospital beds or help them walk.

The company aims to commercialize products such as its "independent walk assist" device sometime after 2013 – seeking to position itself in an industry with great potential in Japan, one of the world's most rapidly aging nations.

Prices and overseas sales plans are still undecided.

Several years ago, the company demonstrated a violin playing robot:

The 1.5-metre tall Violin-playing Robot, equipped with a total of 17 joints in each of its hands and arms, uses precise control and coordination to achieve human-like agility. It could also be used to assist with domestic duties or nursing and medical care.

Here's a video of Toyota's robot playing Pomp and Circumstance:

Analysts expect the auto industry to post very good sales numbers on Monday.  

IHS Global Insight automotive analyst Rebecca Lindland says September was a very good month at car dealerships.   She says the number of car buyers increased last month.  At the same time, Honda and Toyota were finally able to get more vehicles to showrooms, as the disruptive effects of last March’s earthquake and tsunami began to fade.

Ford Motor Company sprang a surprise on the media world on Monday by announcing it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Toyota to jointly develop a rear-wheel drive hybrid system for SUVs and trucks.

Ford is the undisputed king of the pickup in the U.S.  Its F-series pickup has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 25 years.

Toyota is the undisputed king of the hybrid - the Prius is the best-selling hybrid in the U.S.

General Motors, Ford and other automakers will release their June auto sales numbers Friday.  Toyota continues to recover from this year’s natural disaster.    

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. says it will recall 82,200 hybrid vehicles in the U.S. due to computer boards with possibly faulty wiring.

The company's U.S. subsidiary said Wednesday it will conduct a safety recall that involves some Highlander and Lexus brand hybrid SUVs from its 2006 and 2007 lines.

Toyota said the recall covers just the vehicles sold in the U.S., and other models are not affected.

The car giant said in a press release that soldering in a control board in the vehicles' hybrid system is inadequate and could be damaged during high-load driving.

Toyota was recovering from recalls that eventually reached 14 million vehicles worldwide, when it was hit by production disruptions from parts shortages due to the massive earthquake that struck Japan in March.