This Auto Giant Is Back On Top: General Motors Company (GM), Toyota Motor Corporation (TM), Ford Motor Company (F)

The road ahead
Toyota is off to a good start this year. The auto sales for January, which is generally a slower month for the automakers, have been surprisingly strong in US. The top three US automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) reported double digit sales gains. However, Toyota topped in terms of sales growth by posting a 26.6% surge in sales to 157,725 units. The Prius maker estimates to sell 9.91 million units this year, an increase of 1.6% over 2012 global sales. The automaker is relying on the US demand though its focus on emerging nations remains strong. The company is slated to introduce the revamped version of Corolla to contend Volkswagen Golf and Honda Civic. In addition, Toyota is said to be partnering with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to manufacture a mid-sized SUV, develop a fuel cell system, work on light weight technology, and create better batteries.

Concluding thoughts
While Toyota has regained its title of top automaker, the other auto giants will do all that is required to battle for the top spot. The carmaker won the top position and now has a fair lead over both GM and Volkswagen. This is commendable despite the difficulties it faced in the Chinese market in the second half of 2012. Also, despite being the largest foreign automaker in China, GM couldn’t benefit much from Toyota’s poor outlook in the Chinese market, which could make a marked difference in its sales numbers.

Toyota’s policy to work on the quality of the product rather than run behind numbers has resulted in its powerful comeback. It will be interesting to watch how GM and Volkswagen fight for a better spot during the year.

The article This Auto Giant Is Back On Top originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rajesh Marwah.

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