Even Toyota gets the blues, part III

Posted by: David Welch on October 1, 2008

What a strange month September was. The Yankees didn’t make the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Rays did. And Toyota’s sales fell 32%. Sure, it’s tough all over, but Toyota did all right in August with just a 9% drop in a market that was down almost 16%. But September saw the company actually lose market share as its stake in the U.S. fell to 15% from 16.2%.

The falloff wasn’t just in trucks and suvs, either. Even Toyota’s fuel sippers were glued to the lot. Camry hybrid sales fell 34%, Corolla sales dropped 28%, the Scion xB and Tc were down 37% and 53%, respectively. The Prius did OK, relatively speaking, with a 10% sales drop in a market that sank 26%. What’s it all mean, Basel? No credit and no consumer confidence means almost no one is buying.