Photo: Toyota Motor Corporation
We'll give you a big hint: there were some usual suspects like the RAV4, Corolla, or Camry. But then there were also some surprising best-sellers and even some incredible drop-outs.
The results for the US automotive market after the first six months are mostly in, and General Motors barely kept up the sales pace with the Japanese automaker Toyota. Their total was 1,290,319 units, which is 0.4% worse than during the first six months of 2023, whereas their rivals delivered an impressive 1,186,647 units, a rise of 14.3% after the first half of the year – the difference is just 103,672 vehicles between them. Toyota Motor North America's namesake Toyota is the country's number one retail brand in the first half, and the company banks on further growth from its electrified portfolio – "29 electrified Toyota and Lexus vehicle options are available at dealerships, the most among any automaker."
But that's not all, because the luxury division Lexus also posted its best-ever first-half sales in its 35-year history. It's not all rosy and peachy, though – TMNA reported its June sales dropped 1.2% to 193,120 vehicles. However, overall, the second-quarter deliveries were up 9.2%, and the first-half sales were up 14.3%. Also, Toyota noted the best-ever June performance of the bZ4X, GR86, Camry HEV, Corolla HEV, Crown, Corolla Cross and HEV, Grand Highlander and HEV, Sequoia, and Tundra HEV.
"The first half of 2024 surpassed our high expectations thanks to our teams' continued focus on customers with even more great products, including electrified vehicles," said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales, TMNA. "Lexus recorded its best-ever first half in its 35-year history, Toyota remains the number one retail brand in the industry, and our diverse portfolio of 29 electrified vehicle options between the Toyota and Lexus brands made up nearly 40 percent of our total sales volume through June."
The interesting thing is that we can extract some best-sellers and models that need a bit more attention from the Japanese brand. For example, as far as the passenger cars are concerned, the Mirai is an obvious failure (-86%), and the GR Supra is less than impressive by the day (-9% to less than 1,500 units). Meanwhile, the Crown is up 125% to more than 14k, whereas the Corolla and Camry remain classic best-selling nameplates with jumps of 23.5% to 122k and 1.6% to over 155k, respectively.
The SUV and truck departments, on the other hand, are the real attention-grabbers. The iconic Tacoma has plummeted 41.3% to just 69,437 units from almost 117k during the first six months of last year – most likely because of the changeover to a new generation and the limited availability of the new hybrid powertrain. Tundra, meanwhile, surpassed it with a rise of almost 39% to 78,454 vehicles. The RAV4 is the undisputed SUV leader in the family, of course.
But, believe it or not, the second best-selling SUV wasn't the mid-size Highlander (60k) or the new Grand Highlander (over 55K), and not even the compact Corolla Cross, which delivered 45,167 units. Instead, the runner-up (pun intended) was the 15-year-old N280 Toyota 4Runner off-road SUV, the rival of the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, which sold no less than 66,550 vehicles during the first six months of the year! That's pretty much incredible, especially since the new 4Runner is just around the corner, right?
But that's not all, because the luxury division Lexus also posted its best-ever first-half sales in its 35-year history. It's not all rosy and peachy, though – TMNA reported its June sales dropped 1.2% to 193,120 vehicles. However, overall, the second-quarter deliveries were up 9.2%, and the first-half sales were up 14.3%. Also, Toyota noted the best-ever June performance of the bZ4X, GR86, Camry HEV, Corolla HEV, Crown, Corolla Cross and HEV, Grand Highlander and HEV, Sequoia, and Tundra HEV.
"The first half of 2024 surpassed our high expectations thanks to our teams' continued focus on customers with even more great products, including electrified vehicles," said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales, TMNA. "Lexus recorded its best-ever first half in its 35-year history, Toyota remains the number one retail brand in the industry, and our diverse portfolio of 29 electrified vehicle options between the Toyota and Lexus brands made up nearly 40 percent of our total sales volume through June."
The interesting thing is that we can extract some best-sellers and models that need a bit more attention from the Japanese brand. For example, as far as the passenger cars are concerned, the Mirai is an obvious failure (-86%), and the GR Supra is less than impressive by the day (-9% to less than 1,500 units). Meanwhile, the Crown is up 125% to more than 14k, whereas the Corolla and Camry remain classic best-selling nameplates with jumps of 23.5% to 122k and 1.6% to over 155k, respectively.
The SUV and truck departments, on the other hand, are the real attention-grabbers. The iconic Tacoma has plummeted 41.3% to just 69,437 units from almost 117k during the first six months of last year – most likely because of the changeover to a new generation and the limited availability of the new hybrid powertrain. Tundra, meanwhile, surpassed it with a rise of almost 39% to 78,454 vehicles. The RAV4 is the undisputed SUV leader in the family, of course.
But, believe it or not, the second best-selling SUV wasn't the mid-size Highlander (60k) or the new Grand Highlander (over 55K), and not even the compact Corolla Cross, which delivered 45,167 units. Instead, the runner-up (pun intended) was the 15-year-old N280 Toyota 4Runner off-road SUV, the rival of the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, which sold no less than 66,550 vehicles during the first six months of the year! That's pretty much incredible, especially since the new 4Runner is just around the corner, right?
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