Tag Archives: Bill Fay

Automobiles

Official: Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California

Leave a comment

By Damon Lowney

Toyota highlights its hybrid vehicle market dominance in California.

Filed under:

In an apparent shot back at Ford’s increasing market share of electrified vehicles and claim that it accepts more Prius trade-ins for its own hybrids than any other car, Toyota has flexed a muscle and played the numbers game to put the Blue Oval in its place.

Leaning on its hybrid market dominance in California, the Japanese automaker stated that six out of 10 hybrids sold in the Golden State are Toyota models. And it keeps coming: Year-to-date through May 2013, Toyota sold five times more hybrids than Ford. One of every two hybrids in California is a Prius model. In addition, Toyota notes that it has sold 1.5 million Prius vehicles in the US, 90-percent of which are still on the road today.

Want more? We’ll let Bill Fay, Toyota’s group vice president and general manager of sales lay the smack down:

“The hybrid industry has become competitive, but our wide range of hybrid vehicles continue to deliver high value and strong attributes to both new and loyal customers. With sales of 5.3 million hybrids globally and over two million in the US, we are the undisputed leader in hybrid vehicle technology and remain committed to building on our momentum and growing the acceptance of hybrid technology throughout the US.”

And to think Toyota and Ford just ended their collaboration to make hybrid trucks together.

On one hand, those are indeed very impressive statistics, but there’s a flip side, as well. If 6 out of 10 Toyota hybrid sales come from California, that’s more ammunition that hybrids still aren’t a factor for most American new car buyers. As of 2012, only about 3.3 percent of new cars sold in the US were hybrids, of which California sales would clearly represent an inordinately large percentage. So while Toyota may be looking to take upstart Ford to the gas-electric woodshed, it’s clear larger struggles remain on the road to hybrid acceptance.

Continue reading Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California

Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Automobiles

Report: Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs

Leave a comment

By Brandon Turkus

2014 Toyota 4Runner front three-quarter

Filed under:

Toyota sold 121,055 Highlander CUVs in 2012, according to Automotive News. By comparison, it sold 78,457 examples of four different body-on-frame, truck-based SUVs (4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia and Land Cruiser). One could argue then, that the traditional SUVs aren’t pulling their weight from a sales perspective. Yet that isn’t stopping Toyota from reaffirming its commitment to a segment that has seen its former champions – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – abandon it with alarming speed. Ford and GM still offer body-on frame utilities, but only in the very largest offerings, catering to seven or even eight passengers. Everything outside of the Expedition or Tahoe rides now on a unibody.

Toyota’s decision to stick with the technology is good news if you’re in the market for smaller SUVs that are still capable of heading well off the beaten path. Outside of the Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee (a unibody) and perhaps Nissan Xterra, there’s not much in terms of capable SUVs between $20,000 and $50,000. As the Toyota brand’s US head, Bill Fay, says, “Clearly, the trend has shifted, but there is still an owner base that is interested in these vehicles.”

We don’t doubt Fay on that, but it may also be somewhat telling that Toyota’s SUV lineup is aging, and we haven’t seen or heard much about replacement models in the pipeline. Admittedly, the 4Runner (pictured) has been facelifted for 2014, but it’s mostly cosmetic in nature. Despite Toyota’s posturing, we still expect its body-on-frame lineup to thin in the coming years as sales dwindle and escalating fuel-economy standards make business cases even tougher. Here’s hoping that Toyota manages to keep at least one rough-and-tumble SUV in its lineup in the coming years.

Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Automobiles

Report: Toyota exec sees future where all cars sold in US are built here

Leave a comment

By Jeffrey N. Ross

Filed under: ,

A growing number of foreign automakers have been shifting more vehicle production to the US – including recent announcement by Nissan and Honda – but Toyota could be on the verge of taking an unprecedented step by producing all of the cars it sells in the US right here in North America. According to the Detroit Free Press, Bill Fay, VP and GM of Toyota US, hinted at such a possibility, but the wording in the report makes it sound like this is far from a done deal and would not apply to Scion or Lexus models.

Currently, the automaker already builds 70 percent of its US-sold cars in North America including some of its more popular models like the Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Tacoma and RAV4. While most of the Japanese-made Toyotas that are sold in the US are slower-selling models (like Land Cruiser, FJ Cruiser and Yaris), the Prius lineup is the glaring exception, and last we heard, Toyota still has plans to ship Prius production to the US by 2015. This is all a part of Toyota’s plan to add 3,500 jobs in North America to go with recent investments totaling $1.6 billion.

Toyota exec sees future where all cars sold in US are built here originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog