Toyota Posts Big April Sales Increase

Toyota has released their 2012 April sales numbers and they are big. How big? How about a 25.5 percent increase over last year!

Toyota posted a large sales increase in April versus the prior year led by the strong selling Prius and Camry.

While that is impressive, this increase does come with a few caveats. First, we should remember that this time last year, Toyota was dealing with the twin disasters of a Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. This caused a major disruption in production and meant many dealerships in the U.S. were struggling to find inventory to sell. Second, the last few months have seen a resurgence in auto sales in the U.S. Even though Toyota’s vehicles are sold world-wide, the U.S. market is one of the largest. Lastly, the Toyota brand took a big hit over the past year+ with the unintended acceleration/gas pedal issue. Now that this issue seems to be finally on the back burner, consumers confidence in Toyota is back. To recap, increased inventory, resurgent economy and increased consumer confidence in the brand all played a big role in this increase.

Specifically, the increase was tied in large part to the passenger car division of Toyota.

“Thanks to continued strong sales of Camry and Prius family, Toyota was America’s number one retail brand for the second straight month,” said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “With consumer confidence improving, we expect to see sustained industry growth in the months ahead.”

How about on the truck side? The Tacoma was up 16.7 percent while the Tundra sold just 7,219 units, down 2.3 percent.

With such a big jump in sales and with our love of the Tundra, here’s to hoping Toyota puts some more money into its future development and really makes the 2014 edition sparkle.

Related Posts:

• Japan Earthquake Will Hurt Toyota Sales, Effect U.S. Automakers Too
• How Toyota Recovered From The Earthquake Twice As Fast As Anyone Thought Possible
• Study States Toyota Recalls Didn’t Affect Brand