도요타(Toyota)는 최초로 분기 내 판매 성적이 제너럴 모터스를 능가하여 미국 내 가장 잘 팔리는 자동차 제조업체가 된 것으로 예상되고 있다.
일본의 자동차 회사인 도요타는 지난 7월 1일(현지시간) 4~6월 간 미국에서 688,813대의 차량을 판매했다고 발표했다. GM의 판매량인 2분기에 688,236대 비해 약간 더 높은 수치다. 도요타는 전문가들의 기대치를 능가한 기록이었으나 GM은 기대치에 미치지 못한 판매 수치였다.
이러한 도요타의 성과는 차량용 반도체 칩 대란에 잘 대처했기 때문으로 여겨진다. 도요타의 경우 미국 경쟁사인 GM에 비해 위기 관리가 잘 진행되었다.
애드먼즈(Edmunds)의 인사이트 담당 이사인 제시카 콜드웰은 도요타가 다른 자동차 제조사에 비해 공급망을 멀리 내다보고 낮은 재고량을 관리한 경험이 더 많은 것으로 알려져 있다고 말했다. 그녀는 부품부족으로 올해 미국 시장점유율에 큰 변화가 있을 것으로 예상했다.
지난 5월 로이터 통신은 도야타가 차량 생산에 필요한 반도체 칩을 비축하고 있어 단기적으로는 별다른 영향을 받지 않다고 보도했다.
도요타는 판매 실적에 대해 구체적으로 언급하지 않았으나 다음과 같은 성명을 발표했다. “우리는 도요타와 렉서스의 안전을 신뢰해주는 고객들에게 감사드리고 있습니다. 우리의 초점은 항상 고객의 안전과 최고의 품질을 보이는 브랜드에 있습니다. 그리고 지속적으로 차량 불편의 개선을 위해 더 나은 방법을 찾고 있으며, 궁극적으로 고객이 사랑하고 신뢰하는 더 나은 제품을 만들고 있습니다.”
Toyota Motor outsold General Motors in the U.S. for the first time ever during a quarter and is expected to be America’s best-selling automaker.
The Japanese automaker on Thursday reported sales of 688,813 vehicles in the U.S. from April through June. That compares to GM at 688,236 vehicles during the second quarter. Toyota beat analyst expectations, while GM slightly missed forecasts.
The shake-up was caused by a global chip shortage that has significantly hampered vehicle production. Japanese automakers, specifically Toyota, have been able to manage the crisis better than their American competitors.
“They’ve kind of defied gravity the last couple of months,” Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough said. “We’re tracking them having very weak inventories out there and yet their sales have actually held up quite well. … We’re really kind of surprised by Toyota’s strength, and having a decent quarter relative to some of the competition.”
The only way Toyota won’t take the mantle as the top-selling automaker is if Ford Motor, which reports sales Friday morning, significantly beats analyst’s sales expectations of 645,000 vehicles during the quarter. Ford previously said it expected to lose half of its production during the second quarter due to the chip problem.
The last time GM wasn’t the best-selling automaker for a quarter in the U.S. was when Ford outsold them during the third quarter of 1998, Edmunds reports.
Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds, said Toyota is known for seeing far into their supply chain and has more experience managing lower inventories. She expects there could be major swings in U.S. market share this year due to the parts shortage.
“I would definitely expect a bit of a change in some of the market share,” she said. “Toyota has done really well, the Asian brands overall have done pretty well.”
In May, Reuters reported that Toyota was stockpiling semiconductors chips, which are critical for modern vehicles, and was not seeing any major short-term impact from the chip shortage.
Toyota declined to comment specifically on the sales achievement but released the following statement: “We are grateful to our loyal customers for putting their safety and trust in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Our focus has always been – and will continue to be – on being the best brand in terms of safety and quality in our customers’ minds. And as part of our continuous improvement philosophy, we are always finding better ways of doing things, and ultimately make better products our customers love and trust.”
