Japan-based Toyota retained it lead in global vehicles sales in 2013, outselling General Motors and Volkswagen.
Toyota sold 9.98 million vehicles around the world in 2013. The company is forecasting that it will sell more than 10 million vehicles in 2014, which would be the first time the company ever surpassed that mark. The Toyota sales numbers include sales from Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor Company, which are owned by Toyota.
General Motors sold 9.71 million vehicles and Volkswagen sold 9.7 million. General Motors also closed the gap on Toyota, selling just 270,000 less units. In 2012, that number was 460,000, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Toyota faces a tough challenge from General Motors in the coming year, as well as all three American car companies in selling vehicles in the United States. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are making some of their most popular – and best-rated – vehicles in many years. The U.S. car companies collective had their best year since 2007 in 2013.
Sanjeev Varma, managing director at Detroit-based Stellar Alliance Group LLC, told the Dallas Morning News that Volkswagen has an aggressive global strategy. ““The competition is getting more intense. VW is number one in China, GM number one in the U.S., and all three automakers are scaling up investment in product development and on new models.”
The global strategy of automotive companies – both the successes and failures – should prove interesting to those who plan to pursue a degree in business. The business is extremely competitive and requires a great deal of business knowledge, as well an innovation, to stay on top. Automotive companies also deal with complex supply chain and personnel management issues.
The need for the United States government to bail out General Motors and Chrysler last decade shows how things can go wrong quickly.
Toyota’s good year came a year after the company reported a loss for the first time in six decades. According to the Dallas Morning News, new Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda “got what he wished for” – a year without any natural disasters and global recalls of company products.
Toyoda, who is the grandson of the company’s founder, is looking to move the company into more exciting designs, known in Japan as “waku-doki” design.
General Motors is close on their Japanese competitor’s heels. The company, which not long ago had the oldest product line-up, introduced 18 new models in 2013 and plans to roll out another 14 in 2014. The company is now headed by Mary Barra, the first female CEO to every lead a global car company.
