| General Motors is number one, but Toyota is gaining. | | | | from year to year is common. Thus, the overseas |
| Who will be the winner by the end of this year? | | | | market has been what has kept GM strong. |
| For the past several months news reports have been | | | | GM's home market though may be what causes the |
| focusing on the declining fortunes of the world's largest | | | | capitulation. With planned layoffs and plant closings in |
| automaker, General Motors, as well as on the rise of | | | | progress, GM is dumping excess capacity in favor of |
| Toyota to pre-eminence. Many are predicting that this | | | | anticipated need. Toyota, on the other hand, cannot |
| will be the year that Toyota overtakes General | | | | keep up with capacity as demand for its three lines of |
| Motors in sales while others are expressing caution | | | | vehicles -- Toyota, Lexus, and Scion -- continue to |
| regarding this assessment. Does it really matter who is | | | | drive growth. Indeed, if there is factory space available, |
| number one? In many ways it does. Let's examine the | | | | Toyota will use it to produce more vehicles. So, the |
| fortunes of the Top Two to determine whether | | | | prediction for Toyota overtaking GM is based largely |
| Toyota's quest to overtake General Motors will | | | | on available capacity and demand. |
| happen this year. | | | | Toyota, however isn't about to claim the #1 position so |
| So, why does it matter who is the top selling | | | | easily. In 2005, General Motors sold the most cars that |
| automaker in the world? In one word: prestige. Being | | | | it has since 1978, so things are not as gloomy as |
| number one in any category tells consumers that you | | | | thought when looking at the company from a global |
| are at the top of your game. No, there isn't anything | | | | perspective. Growth in China, capacity through its |
| wrong with being number two - just ask Avis - but | | | | Korean subsidiary Daewoo, and renewed interest in |
| saying that "we try harder" doesn't equate into being | | | | several new or modified home grown models may |
| number one no matter how cute your commercials | | | | stem the bleeding. Some are thinking that GM has cut |
| may be. | | | | back as far as it needs to go and with new models |
| General Motors' decline combined with Toyota's | | | | online including pick up trucks, SUVs, the Saturn SKY |
| ascension is remarkable. At one time, General Motors | | | | and Aura, and others GM may be poised for a surge |
| produced well over half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. | | | | in sales. |
| Today, that number is down to about 25% and falling. | | | | None of us can predict the future, but it does show us |
| Toyota, on the other hand, has gone from being the | | | | one thing: the battle for automotive pre-eminence will |
| maker of poor quality cars to being a manufacturer | | | | only grow stronger and neither automaker can afford |
| that everyone points to when building their vehicles. A | | | | to take anything for granted. For consumers just like |
| true "benchmark" in an industry overloaded with | | | | you, you stand to benefit as quality improvements and |
| manufacturers. | | | | pricing strategies give you the best bang for the buck. |
| Originally, many thought that the Toyota ascension | | | | Copyright 2006 - Matt Keegan is The Auto Writer |
| would not occur before 2010, if ever. Although General | | | | covering topics from performance auto parts to new |
| Motors is losing market share, it does have a strong | | | | car reviews. For discount Toyota parts including quality |
| presence elsewhere especially in China where it is the | | | | Toyota exhaust components and Lund products, shop |
| number one automaker and double digit sales growth | | | | online! |