Toyota Outsells General Motors

It happened one quarter later than this journal had predicted. For the three months ended March 31, 2007, Toyota sold 2.35 million vehicles. In the same period, General Motors sold 2.26 million. Japanese corporate capital now produces more cars and trucks than American corporate capital. However, that isn’t the same as Japanese companies making more cars than American companies. The truth is, there isn’t an American or Japanese car anymore, merely brands with different geographical identities.

General Motors was the biggest selling car company in the world for about 76 years. However, to suggest that it is a seller of only American cars is simply untrue. The most obvious illustration of this point is GM’s ownership of Opel and Saab. The Opel brothers bought their car factory in 1899 in Anhalt, Germany. Saab, of course, is the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant Holder appointed by His Majesty the King of Sweden.

For its part, Toyota has not bought up car makers from places other than Japan. Nonetheless, Toyota has manufacturing or assembly plants in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, the UK, the USA, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Toyota uses local labor and a variety of locally produced parts. A Toyota build in Poland is as Japanese as the sushi in a Gdansk restaurant.

That said, there is a genuine fear at Toyota that this success will backfire and that US legislators will begin to fuss and grumble about unfair competition. While this may make headlines for a bit and possibly send Lou Dobbs on CNN off on a rant for a day or two, the company operates factories in Huntsville, Alabama; Georgetown, Kentucky; Princeton, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas; and Buffalo, West Virginia. The paychecks that flow into these burgs, and the taxes that get generated, should keep stupid legislation from arising.

More worrisome for Toyota is the recent increase in recalled vehicles. Last year, Toyota recalled over a million vehicles in Japan and 760,000 in the United States. David Shepardson of the Detroit News reported in January that, “Ford, which led the industry with 6 million recalls in 2005, saw recalls drop to 1.7 million in 2006. GM saw similar results, recalling 1.6 million cars and trucks, down from 5 million the year before.” Toyota has sold more cars and trucks than GM because of perceived superior quality and fuel efficiency. If those advantages slip, so will sales.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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