Toyota regains market leadership in July

Toyota has regained overall market leadership in the month of July after being overtaken by Holden in May and June due to supply shortages in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. According to preliminary data, Toyota sold 12,900 vehicles in July compared to Holden’s tally of 10,800 and Ford’s 7800.

Toyota has always maintained sales leadership in year-to-date results, but slipped to second place in May and June on the monthly sales charts. The last time Holden overtook Toyota in a given month was in March 2005 (when Holden sold 11,757 cars to Toyota’s unusually weak 8,628).

Although Toyota is showing signs of recovery, the carmaker’s sales are still down by about 20 per cent as it is gripped by supply shortages. Toyota’s July sales bring its tally for the first seven months of the year to less than 100,000. By the same time last year, Toyota had sold almost 125,000 vehicles.

Particularly affected are the Yaris and Corolla hatches, the RAV4 and Kluger SUVs and the Prado 4WD. Supply of the Thai-made Hilux has returned to normal, ahead of the introduction of a facelifted model in September.

Meanwhile, Holden’s year-to-date tally is about 73,300 – down 7.5 per cent compared to the figure of 79,305 it recorded during the same period last year.

Overall, the new-car market is down by about 6 per cent.