Toyota’s September Sales Decline is one of the Worst in Their History in the US

GM’s Sales Were Way Ahead of All Manufacturers While Japanese Brands Plummeted

Part of the sad commentary of this economy is when you measure sales success by whose sales went down the least. Toyota’s sales were off 32.3% in September while “GM’s sales decline of 15.6% easily outpaced the rest of the industry,” according to Automotive News release on October 1, 2008. In fact all Asian brands were way off as the US economy has faltered. Honda sales were off 24% while Nissan was down 37%. Toyota said September sales results are the worst since June of 1987. Even Kia, down 27.8%, Mazda down 35.6%, and BMW and Mini down 25.7% all blamed the US economy for sluggish sales.

In my research for GM’s 100th anniversary, I discovered that GM was largely responsible for the US manufacturing support of the US and the Allies in World War II. GM built aircraft, tanks and trucks for the war effort. In fact GM’s planes and tanks were instrumental in the Allies victory in WWII.

Today GM is in a different war with Japan and Germany. Asian and European cars have for the first time in history, dominated the US Market. Just this year, American car companies gave the imports the lead in vehicle sales. It is hard for me to imagine that the same country that rallied to defeat these countries have now taken to favoring their products to those built by the same companies that helped the Allies and the US win World War II.

But the US auto industry brought this pain on in the 80’s by putting short term profit and huge labor contracts above quality and styling. GM has renegotiated these labor contracts and focused on quality and styling. Today, GM is fighting this war against the Asians and Germans with the same determination they did during World War II. But today it is a war for consumer dollars. GM’s cars and trucks are rated as good as or better than anything in the world, and GM has the tough job of convincing the customer to put GM cars and trucks on their shopping list.

Today, the GM Giant is trading more Asian and European imports and transplants than ever in our history. Customers that are driving these cars are learning that our product offerings are world class and American. Our sales are off, but at least for September, not as much as the imports. Cars like the North American Car of the Year Chevy Malibu, and Motor Trend Car of the Year Cadillac CTS are leading GM to a return of total world automotive sales dominance. Customers who have previously defected to imports are slowly returning to GM to learn that we have offerings superior to Accord and Camry.

This economy has put a terrible strain on the auto industry. But when money is tight, shoppers are much more careful with their spending. It looks like, at least for September, the smart money went to General Motors. Drive Safely.